Arcadia's Poison Touch
by yugisun
Summary: Even with Akiza's rise to fame as a Signer, life still isn't easy for psychic duellists (this is set some time after the events of 5Ds). Yuri has always been afraid of his powers, and is bullied because of them, but when he moves school because of bullying, he meets someone who convinces him his powers are a gift. I have a liking for the macabre side of the show.
1. Chapter 1

Arcadia's Poison Touch

_A preliminary note from me, the author__: All chapters that contain part of a duel will be clearly marked as not everyone will like the way I write duels since I like to screw around with the rules a lot (think Duellist Kingdom) so battles between monsters sometimes feel more like a battle between two Pokémon, as opposed to a proper Yu-Gi-Oh battle, and monsters with a lower ATK can potentially beat ones with a higher ATK, given the correct circumstances._

There it was – his new school. He'd been there prior to be shown around and to collect his locker key, but never when other students were around. Standing at the gates he looked up in awe at his new school and then around at some of the others around him. Not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, he hastily made his way inside the main school building.

"Hopefully I can make a good impression on my first day," he panted, as he rushed over to his newly assigned locker.

He swiftly opened his backpack and began to rummage through it, completely unaware of those around him. It was like he was in his own little world. He didn't mind though as he didn't expect anyone to notice him straight away anyway. However, to his dismay, it didn't take long for him to be approached by two boys, both slightly taller than him. Since he was still lost in his backpack, it wasn't until he heard one of them blurt some words that he noticed them. He turned around to see that they were both directly behind him.

"Hey look it's a new kid," said one of them with a smirk on his face.

"I wonder if he has any rare cards," said the other.

"Yeah, let's get 'im," they said together.

The two boy, both with short black hair then pinned him against the lockers and clenched their fists. One then pulled him up by the neck of his plain white T-Shirt so that he was level with his face. He assumed he was about to get shouted at, or worse, punched but before he could think of a response they suddenly let go simultaneously, and ran off, leaving him very bemused.

"Crap it's Scarlett," shouted one of the other people in the corridor.

Upon hearing those words most people scurried off around the corner, and it wasn't long before the whole corridor was practically empty, leaving only him and a couple of other people. It wasn't normal that bullies would simply leave him like that, which made him wonder what all the fuss was about. He looked around the corridor for anything suspicious. There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary, though the pink top of the tall brunette, who was leisurely strolling through the middle of the corridor, caught his attention, because of its precariously low "U" shaped neckline.

Besides her T-shirt he also noted other features. She also wore tight fitting cyan trousers and carried a golden handbag on one of her shoulders. Not wanting to become too distracted by her charm, he quickly took to fumbling through his bag again before she could have any kind of adverse effect on him. He hoped she would just pass him by without too much trouble, as she was the sort of person he could see himself developing a crush on.

For a few more seconds he pretended to look for something in his backpack, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, although it was no use. Someone's shadow blocked out much of the light from entering the locker, so he was forced to take his backpack out of the locker if he wanted continue to seeing what he was doing, not that he was doing much at all. His attempts to look for something that wasn't there became ever more desperate upon hearing a calm sultry voice.

"Hi, I'm Scarlett," whispered the voice into his ear.

Suddenly a whole mix of thoughts came rushing into his head. He instinctively wondered why someone like her would want to talk to him, let alone acknowledge his presence. He always felt that he was a low life, just another short boy, in other words, perfect prey for his classmates. He turned to look up but instantly bumped his head on the locker in his haste. At that moment a hand began rubbing his head. He knew it was a female hand because he could feel its manicured nails aggravate his previously tidy hair.

"Careful," said the voice, this time with a giggle, "So what's your name?"

He swore she was just playing around with him, like some kind of sick joke. He didn't think it at all possible that a girl of her stature would want to make friends with him. Lost for words, he looked across at where he thought the voice came from to see two overhanging breasts placed on the door to his locker. He wanted to restrain himself but couldn't help but blush uncontrollably at such a sight.

"I, umm...who me?" he whispered, trying desperately to move his gaze from her robust chest, up towards her face.

"Yes, you," she said as he leant further over the door, trying to keep a straight face, "Who else? The corridor is practically empty."

Whilst he thought of what to say he moved slightly to look around the corridor. It was indeed empty, which made him wonder why everyone disappeared upon seeing this girl. She was one of the prettiest he ever set eyes upon, yet somehow even those burly boys that attacked him earlier seemed scared of her. He gazed across the corridor for what seemed like an eternity to him, but was really just a split second, and then turned to look up at her again.

"I-I...I'm Yuri," he finally spewed.

"Sorry, I should have mentioned, I don't bite. Wait, let me repharse that. What I meant was - I can't see myself biting you anytime soon."

"Uhm, so...you..."

Before he could finish his sentence she placed her forefinger over his mouth. When she did, a sudden gush of her flowery scent rushed up his nose. The sensation felt weird as it was unlike anything he smelt before, but it was enough to calm his nerve, at least temporarily. Nevertheless, he still felt cornered by this foxy lady and didn't think that he would be able to escape her anytime soon.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get along just fine," she stated with a gentle smile.

"I, um, hope so..."

"Great, me too! Don't worry about Ted and Ned; with me looking after you nobody will lay a finger on you. So, what lesson do you have first?"

"History."

"With who?"

"Um...Mr. Bewd, I think."

"Wow, we're in the same class."

As soon as she said that he couldn't quite work out whether the predicament was a good thing or a bad thing. Sure she seemed friendly enough, but what if she was only pretending to like him? Despite her friendly gestures, he was scared that he was getting the wrong impression of her, and he held an underlying fear that he might end up making a fool of himself. He began to fumble through rucksack again, still not exactly sure what he was looking for. Then when he tilted his head backwards, he bumped into in her breasts, which made him feel very embarrassed, although she didn't seem to think much of it.

"What are you still looking for in your bag?" she said as she continued to lean over him, with emphasis on the word "still", as she attempted to get a closer look at the inside of his backpack.

"Oh, er, nothing," he stammered.

"Exactly."

She placed her arm around his upper body and gradually pulled him away from his locker. Before he could do anything she slammed the door shut with her free hand. He wanted to resist her, but knew resistance was futile, seeing as he was already feeling too flustered to even question her actions, and her seductive tone assured that the spell she put him under grew ever more powerful. He removed some of her hair from around of his face then took another whiff perfume and took a deep breath. There was no denying it; he was in an extremely awkward situation.

"Now," she continued, "We ought to be going to lesson, so if you close your locker I can show you to the classroom."

"But I..."

"No. Or do I have to close it for you? You don't want to see what I'm capable of, trust me."

Unsure of what she meant by those words, and not in the mood for finding out, he swiftly obeyed her. It did cross his mind that he was being easily manipulated, although it wasn't often that he got to talk to someone so beautiful, so without wasting any time, he took the key from within his trouser pocket and carried on executing her orders. Afterwards he turned to face her, but immediately lurched backwards against the lockers, feeling quite intimidated, after having his nose accidently brush with her chest. Noticing his reaction she began to chuckle, though quickly returned silent as he mustered the courage to speak again.

"Sorry – Scarlett, umm, it's not that. It's just..."

"Go on."

"I wasn't very popular in my old school and, and..."

"Oh, I see where this is going. If I'm honest, I don't have many friends, maybe like one or two. I know that's hard for someone like you to believe - but it's the truth. Basically, I thought it would be a good idea to get to know you - before people start feeding you with lies, not to mention you look kinda cute."

"Huh...?"

"You don't want to know why people are scared of me, ok. Let's just head to lesson."

Without any further comment he slung his backpack over his shoulder and ran up to Scarlett, who was already part way down the corridor. They eventually came across the two boys who wanted to beat him up earlier, but from the looks on their faces it was hard to tell that they were feeling very confident mere minutes ago. Most of the other people appeared frightened of something too, and as Scarlett walked past them many backed up against the wall, which made it clear it was her they were afraid of.

"What's the new guy doing with Scarlett..." whispered one of the people to their friend.

"Umm, hi..." he said in a tone he thought was friendly, not wanting to give the people the wrong impression.

"Ignore them," interrupted Scarlett, her seductive tone apparently dropped in favour of a more serious one.

"I was just being friendly..."

"Come with me a sec, we need to talk."

She turned to grab his arm and pulled him down the corridor so that they were a fair distance from the other people. There she pinned him against some of the lockers, between her two arms so he couldn't escape. She gazed down at him and sighed. He felt like he might be in trouble so he put his arms across his face, careful not to touch her domineering breasts in the process, in case she tried anything on him, unsure of what she might do.

"There's no need to be scared of me," she said, returning to her more seductive voice, "Sorry, I should have explained. You can either hang out with them or stay friends with me. None of them like me."

"But since I know you're a nice person I could try and convince them..."

"It's no use. If they thought I could be a nice person they would have stopped calling me a mutant and a freak ages ago."

"People called me a freak too, that's why I moved school."

"You know how I feel then. Don't worry; we'll look out for each other, k?"

She winked at him although he failed to notice, given his eyes were still struggling to contend with the great canyon that was her cleavage. He started to blush again, given the awkwardness of the situation. In the corner of his eye he could see some of the other children stare at them, probably wondering what was going on between them.

"Ok," he said in a meek tone.

Just as she started walking away their lecturer arrived, Mr. Bewd. He was an old man with extremely pale skin, white hair and blue eyes. He wore a pair of spectacles with a blue frame, along with a white shirt and trousers. His eyes locked with Yuri's, and then he smiled at him. When he opened the door to the classroom everyone rushed in, though he stayed outside to greet Yuri.

"Hello, you must be Yuri, the new boy," he stated.

"Yes," he replied.

"I'm Mr. Bewd; nice to finally meet you. I take it you'll be sitting next to Scarlett."

"I think so."

"Ok, very well - I hope you brought some suitable writing equipment to the lesson as they'll be lots to take in today."

"I have a pencil."

"I suppose that'll have to do."

Yuri glanced around the classroom. Most people were staring at him, although some were getting their books out. Scarlett was sat on a table on her own at the back, away from the other students, who continued to look at him as he made his way to the back of the classroom. Mr. Bewd came over to give him a lined paper book, presumably for his history work, and subsequently started the lesson.

"Today we are starting work a new topic. Forget about Egypt and the Millennium Items. We are moving onto the Signers. It was 30 years ago to this very month that the last Earthbound Immortal was defeated. None of you will have been born back then, but all of us have the Signers to thank for saving the future and owe a great deal to them..."

And so he went on and on. Mr. Bewd was one of those teachers that seemed to like to talk a lot, but unfortunately for his students, sounded very boring, as it was obvious some of them were dozing off. Already he could tell he wasn't going to enjoy history lessons. Perhaps a change of teacher might have made lessons more fun, because it's not like the Signers are a dry subject to be taught; quite the opposite. When one learns about their action packed adventures they discover how fortunate they really are.


	2. Chapter 2

After history class the next lesson was science, with Ms Li, who seemed to strive to make the lesson interesting, unlike Mr Bewd previously who continued his droning despite acknowledging some of the class was falling asleep. In the science lesson they learnt about homeostasis, which while not the most exhilarating topic; it was made fun by an eccentric lecturer. As in history class, Yuri sat towards the back, next to Scarlett, who began to grill him about his previous school. He wasn't really in the mood for revealing too many details, trying his best to dance around many of her more probing questions. Several days passed yet her probing continued, despite his protests.

He didn't like to talk about his experiences with anyone, not even his own father, the only person he lived with, so what she did manage to squeeze out of him might be considered quite an achievement. He did admit to his mother leaving him and his father, but neglected to tell her why. He also avoided telling her the real reason why people called him a freak, fearing she might not like him for it. By the end of the lesson, he felt she wasn't as menacing as he initially thought, despite her pestering him to answer her questions, though he still felt anxious around her.

Everyone who saw them glanced at them with strange expressions. It was certainly an odd pairing - a seemingly confident high school belle with a short meek boy. However, nobody dared to question either of them, being sure to keep well away from Scarlett. Throughout the day Yuri continued to wonder why this was, assuming Scarlett hid a secret, or more likely secrets, of her own, though he never found the courage to ask her what exactly these secrets were. Instead he simply followed her lead, somewhat thankful that nobody else was bothering him. Initially, he did hope to make some new friends, but quickly grew concerned that once they discovered his secret, they wouldn't want to be his friend any longer. He assumed they would start calling him a freak too, like they did to Scarlett, though he never actually heard anyone utter the words freak or mutant in the same sentence her as her name.

Lunch too was always spent in relative isolation, in spite of the busyness of the cafeteria, as Scarlett sat at a table in the corner with another misfit, who didn't talk much, and as a result lunch was mostly quiet, as their respective lunches kept them sufficiently occupied. Yuri was sat next to Scarlett, whilst the boy, about his height although slightly younger, wearing glasses and with untidy hair, sat opposite. He appeared very geeky, but this didn't discourage him from trying to make conversation with him, after having finished eating his lunch.

"Umm...Cecil?" he asked, desperate to make conversation.

"Yes..." he replied, with a slight annoyance in his tone.

"What's your favourite subject? Mine is science."

"Math…"

From the way he uttered the word it was evident that he wasn't in the mood for talking, or maybe, like him, he was the sort of person that wasn't very good in social situations. Either way, Yuri decided he no longer wanted to speak to him, and shifted his gaze onto Scarlett. She was busily munching her way through a packet of sweets but he chose to make his advance anyway. He was about to open his mouth when she answered.

"Science," she declared with a mouthful of food, "Math is so boring."

"But we use math every single day; we need it. Without it, how could you know if your shirt fits you?" stated Cecil, sounding considerably grumpier than earlier.

"Hush."

"Hopefully someday you will learn to appreciate math. I must be off now. No time to chat. I need to return a book to the school library. It is very important that I do that."

"Oh," said Yuri with a rather blank look.

"I'll have you know that books are vital to the advancement of one's knowledge..."

"Gosh, you're so boring. Sometimes I wonder why I let you sit at my table," said Scarlett.

Ignoring her comment, Cecil got up from his seat and walked over to a nearby bin. After relieving himself of his rubbish he took his bag and left, without saying goodbye. Once he left, instead of making conversation with Scarlett, Yuri took out a deck of duel monsters cards from within the depths of his backpack. Whilst he was examining them Scarlett leant over to try and take a closer look at them, which blocked a lot of the light, so he was forced to turn in order to look at them.

"What are those?" she enquired, leaning over his shoulder in the process.

"Oh - umm...nothing, really."

He didn't want to have a big fuss over them, merely wanting to check if anything was missing, so he tried to hide them from her, which wasn't a wise choice. Not discouraged by his defensive mannerisms, she moved her body across to rest her breasts on his other shoulder. Not wanting to be outdone he hastily shoved them up his sleeve.

"They don't look like nothing to me."

The way she whispered into his ear, calmly yet full of her distinct flavour, startled him. He froze for a couple of seconds, as he tried to conjure a response. In the end all the came out was a quick dim-witted comment.

"Well, they're not important."

As soon as he said those words, a smallish white ball with two golden eyes appeared. It was extremely bright, with no definitive outline. It floated above the table, swirling around in the air, apparently trying to get their attention, though its efforts were futile, as neither of them saw it because they remained fixated on Yuri's deck.

"I think they are. Why else would you have them with you?"

"I don't like duelling - I'm not very good. I don't have my duel disk anyway."

"What's the point of bringing your deck to school if you don't have a duel disk to go with it?"

"I don't know..."

"Exactly, and who's that?"

"I...I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you know exactly who I'm talking about."

Yuri turned and looked up, across the table. She knew he could see it too because his expression suddenly changed from fright to a mixture of shock and awe. The luminescent being squealed, but somehow nobody around them heard it, as they all continued whatever they were doing without paying any attention to what was going on in the corner of the cafeteria. It spun around in the air again which made Scarlett giggle. The thing, whatever it was, succeeded in making what was already a very awkward moment for him even more awkward, and he wasn't sure how he was going to explain such an anomaly to her.

"So, umm, you can see it?" he said, his voice dropping to a murmur.

"Yes. Why else would I ask you about it?"

"I guess..."

"Well..."

Scarlett knew he knew what it was, because she saw a duel monster card just like it when he was looking through his deck, but because he tried to hide it, she didn't have a chance to get a good look at it. He paused momentarily then rapidly spewed out the name of the thing floating in front of them.

"Kurilux – her name is Kurilux."

"Kurilux, huh?"

"People don't see her. They think I'm stupid, but I didn't create her. She's real. She's not an imaginary friend."

Yuri slammed his fist on the table. He lurched forward so Scarlett's chest was no longer leaning on his shoulder and shed a tear. Kurilux floated down to his level to examine him but he ignored her. Scarlett on the other hand, wasn't sure how to react to this sudden outburst. In the end she decided to leave him until he calmed down. After about a minute he decided to speak again, although all that came out was one word.

"Sorry," he said in a reserved tone.

"Sorry for what exactly?" she asked.

"I don't like being angry. I - if I get angry bad things happen. I don't like being angry. It's not nice."

"I used to get angry a lot. I still do sometimes, but I've learnt to control my anger. Perhaps you can too."

"I don't know if I can."

Just then the bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch break. Most people swiftly got up from their seats. Kurilux vanished and Scarlett and Yuri went their separate ways, after saying goodbye of course, as for their last lesson math, the students were divided into groups according to ability. Scarlett was in the top group, whilst Yuri was placed into the middle group until the school decided how competent he was at math. Even though he previously told Scarlett he liked math, the lesson was on algebra, a relatively taxing subject, and he struggled with a couple of the equations.

In the lesson with him was one of the people who attacked him at the start of the school day, Ned. He was a fairly well built boy with spiked black hair, and instantly realized Yuri's vulnerability, especially since the lesson was the first he attended without Scarlett. Although he was sat next to another student, for the duration of the math lesson they barely talked to each other, and the student tried his best to ignore him.

After the lesson, in the section of corridor just outside of the classroom, he was approached by Ned, who grabbed his arm. He pulled on his arm and shoved him against the wall. Some of the people stopped to stare at them, presumably wondering why Ned would all of a sudden attack Yuri. Yuri's eyes vividly portrayed the fear growing inside of him, and like an all-consuming fire he was unable to control it, his heart now ever beating faster. Hesitant about what might be about to happen to him, he quickly mustered the courage to speak.

"Why me?" he asked in an almost silent tone.

"I want your rare cards," he exclaimed.

"I don't have my cards."

"Really? But I saw them, in the cafeteria; those were your cards weren't they?"

"No, they weren't I don't have any cards. They were Scarlett's cards."

"You're lying aren't you?"

"N-no I'm not very good at duelling."

"So you do have cards. Where are they?"

"At home..."

"Bring them tomorrow. Meet me in the school playing fields straight after school - we're duelling. If I win then I get your rare cards. But you mustn't tell Scarlett about this. If you tell Scarlett then they'll be trouble. I think I may have found something to deal with her anyway."

Yuri gulped then both of them looked around to see if the other people were still there watching them. Many of them were, and amongst them was Cecil, the boy who was sat at the lunch table with him and Scarlett. After a brief pause Ned let go of Yuri and began to walk away, but stopped as soon as Yuri spoke.

"What if I win?"

"Then I'll leave you alone."

Yuri was about to make a dash for the exit located on the other side of the main building when he was approached by Cecil. He placed his hand on his glasses and adjusted them, making sure they were positioned firmly on his face, and then cleared his throat. Yuri turned to gaze at him and gave him a rather garbled look.

"Not many people like Ned," said Cecil.

"Oh..."

"Well it's not rocket science as they say. I should mention that for someone like me, rocket science is a relatively easy subject to understand though. Listen..."

Cecil took his duel disk from his bag and subsequently, the deck inside that was being stored inside the duel disk. From out of his deck he took a powerful Trap Card – Mirror Force. He showed the card to Yuri and gave him a moment to read its effect. Mirror Force: You can only activate this card when your opponent's monster declares an attack. Destroy all Attack Position monsters on your opponent's side of the field.

"I heard about your predicament," he continued, "Ned's deck is all about offense and relies heavily on summoning lots of monsters quickly. I want you to borrow this rare and powerful card for your duel – it will help you out a lot. If Ned loses his initial advantage then you've got a good chance of winning. I would love to see him loose tomorrow."

"What if I lose?"

"Hmmm...Don't worry; I have another copy at home. Good luck!"

After handing Yuri the card he swiftly walked away in the opposite direction to him. When Yuri eventually left the school grounds Kurilux suddenly reappeared in front of him. He wanted to address her, but was walking along a typically busy city street and didn't want people staring at him. She squealed assuming he didn't notice her since he was looking towards the pavement at the time. He ignored her but she squealed again.

"Why do you have to appear at awkward moments?" he said with a sigh, "Like earlier. An-And then Scarlett saw you. I don't know. School sucks. Tomorrow I have to duel Ned. You better be there when I need you. ...I'm doomed and now people are staring at me again."

She appeared to smile at him, though it wasn't really a smile as she didn't have a mouth, or none that he saw anyway. Really she just briefly closed her eyes in a gleeful fashion and then continued to stare at him as he slowly walked along the road to his house. After about 15 minutes he arrived. His home was mid-way up a tall block of apartments. Unlike with his locker, he didn't use a key to enter, instead relying on the iris recognition technology built into the entrance.

Once inside he went straight to his room to look through his collection of cards, picking out the ones which he thought where the best ones. He then ran through his modified deck several times, noting the different combinations there was potential to pull off. When he was finally happy with his deck he took to staring at the card Cecil gave him. He stared at it for quite a while, considering how the outcome of the duel might be decided just by him drawing this one card.

Mirror Force was certainly amongst the most powerful trap cards he encountered. But did it really have the potential to stop Ned? He guessed Cecil and Ned never duelled or even spoken to each other, noting how Ned ignored him when they were both in the corridor earlier. However, Cecil seemed fairly smart so he must have known the sort of cards that were needed in order to defeat Ned.

His dad still wasn't home from work when he finished readying his deck so he started preparing some dinner in the hope that might take his mind off of the duel. It didn't; and so he decided to go to his and have another quick glance at the cards in his deck. As a result, he ended up hard boiling his egg, because it didn't turn out to be the final quick glance he promised himself it was going to be.


	3. Chapter 3 (DUEL)

_Custom cards are marked with a "*" after their first appearance in a chapter only and assume any cards without can be searched on the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki. Monsters are Attack Mode unless otherwise specified and many have additional quirky effects to make duels more interesting like they did in Duellist Kingdom._

Yuri glanced at the clock in his room. It read seven-thirty AM, that meant it was time to get out of bed. Despite being faced with this fact, he didn't actually want to get out of bed as he was still worrying about the duel that was scheduled for after school. He stared at the ceiling for a few more minutes and then forced himself to get out of bed, navigating the untidy mass of cards left there from yesterday. His room was generally tidy, being a place of relative calm in a world that treated him cruelly. The area in the corner by the end of his bed was the only untidy part of his room, as a few cards scattered across the floor, though it didn't really matter if his room was tidy or not as he was not used to having any visitors.

Upon entering the kitchen he was greeted by his father, already dressed, who was there making himself some toast. In spite of his father's friendly gesture he remained silent. He took a white bowl and a box of cornflakes from one of the cupboards above the sink and sat down at the kitchen table, located in the centre of the room, opposite his father. His father, unsure why he didn't reply, looked across to him with a puzzled expression. He knew Yuri wasn't the most outward person, but today seemed strange.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Not really," Yuri replied.

"Are you sure? It's not like you to be this quiet in the morning."

"Yes."

"Ok, well I need to skedaddle off to work in about ten minutes so if you want to talk to me about anything then you should tell me now."

"Ok."

He didn't say a word after that, and by the time his father was ready to go out to work, he was still slowly munching on his bowl of cornflakes. His father didn't bother to ask him why he was taking an unusually long time to eat his cereal, and simply said goodbye and left. In the end he didn't finish his bowl and left a few flakes to soak in the remaining milk.

After preparing himself for school, he sat down on his bed to have another look at his deck. He focused on Kurilux in particular, as she was one monster which could potentially be very useful; assuming what Cecil said about Ned's deck was accurate. Whilst he was gazing at his deck, he noticed he put his trousers on the wrong way round, seeing as he wasn't concentrating on anything other than his deck and nothing could seem to avert him from the duel later. Throughout the morning he upheld the underlying sense of fear that was engulfing his mind. It was like a rising tide, one that quickly and effortlessly breached the sea defences and was threatening its surroundings, or in his case, his own sanity. Though Scarlett only met him a few days before, it didn't take long for her to note his anxiety. She asked him – but fearing what Ned said, he lied to her, instead telling her a member of his family died, which she accepted.

Eventually it was time for lunch, and as before, he sat with Scarlett in a corner of the cafeteria. Unlike the days before however, Cecil wasn't there, not that it made much difference, as he barely spoke to him anyway. He decided to ask Scarlett anyway though, fearing Ned might have overheard the conversation about his duel.

"So, um, where's Cecil?" he asked as he removed his lunch from his bag.

"Today is book club day," she replied, having a peek at the contents of his bag in the process, "And why have you brought that in today?"

"Brought in what?"

"I think we both know what I'm talking about. So why do you have it?"

She must have seen it. How was he going to explain this one to her? The shiny plain white duel disk with its glaring blue orb was clearly very conspicuous; not something people usually carry around with them unless they wanted to duel. He sat quietly for a moment; slowly closing his bag in the hope Scarlett wouldn't question him further on the matter. When he turned to look up her face she glowered at him.

"Well..." she said, beginning to sound rather annoyed.

"I wanted to show Cecil, I, um, I spoke to him after school yesterday – that's why I asked where he was."

"Yeah, I remember you saying you weren't very good at duelling, how foolish of me to think you were actually going to duel..."

For the rest of the lunch break, there wasn't a single mention of duelling, and Yuri was able to temporarily take his mind off of the subject. Talking to Scarlett about various random things, such as commenting on some of the other students, made him forget about what was going to happen after school. That was until he noticed Ned walking past. Ned briefly glared at him, causing him to freeze. Scarlett was fixated on her bag of sweets at the time and so didn't notice him, or his unease at seeing him.

Eventually the bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch break, making most people scurry off to their lessons. Yuri was more apprehensive about the final lesson of the day though, fearing what Ned might have planned. When Mr. Bewd started his babbling, all he was able to think about was the upcoming duel. He knew he was supposed to be taking notes, but he wasn't able to concentrate, and barely put pencil to paper.

He tried to hide his fear, but as the lesson progressed it became ever more obvious. By the end of the lesson, his heart was beating much faster and his hands were shaking. To his surprise Scarlett didn't make a comment or ask any questions. He really wanted to tell her about his duel with Ned, but if he meant what he said, and it sounded like he did, he knew he might be putting her life in danger. But what of her supposed secrets? For someone like Ned to initially be scared of her, there was no doubt in his mind that she was keeping something hidden. Perhaps underneath all that feminine beauty was a vicious monster; maybe that was why Ned didn't want her interfering.

When the lesson ended Ned turned to look at him once more. He sneered at him, and then got up to leave the classroom. Yuri sat there frozen. He remained fixated on the whiteboard, until his view was blocked by Scarlett. She leaned over his side of the desk, not the least bit concerned by the fact that her most distinct signs of womanhood were in plain view.

"Yuri, it's the end of the lesson, aren't you going to get up? ...Oh well, see ya tomorrow," she said with a wink.

"Yes, I, I, really need to rush home today," he said as quickly as possible.

"Alright, if you say so..."

After she left, he reluctantly made his way to the school playing fields. He wasn't really sure what to expect when he got there, but guessed Ned might have brought some friends along. Even though he never used them for physical education lessons before, he knew the fields were big as he saw them from the window in science class, so Ned could be hidden anywhere, silently waiting - waiting to pounce. Upon reaching the road that led up to the school fields he saw Ned in the distance, towards the middle of the grassy area. He was with there with a small group of his friends, one of which was just about to open a bag of popcorn. At first they didn't spot him, but when he crossed the line of bushes that separated it from the running track, after climbing the hilly verge onto the field, one of them pointed at him.

"I didn't think he would come but he has," said one of the boys.

"Ted, hold my bag! It's time to show this low life who rules in this school," said Ned.

As he walked up to the group he noticed a bulge in the side pocket of Ned's trousers. He thought it looked like a gun, but he hoped his eyes were deceiving him. How could he have kept something like that hidden for the entirety of the school day? When he was stood directly in front of Ned he took a standard 5Ds duel disk, a plain crimson one from within the depths of his backpack, strapping it to his wrist. When he touched the yellow orb in the middle, it lit up, and then the slots of the various cards extended out from within the disk.

"Hah, you turned up," Ned shouted.

"W-w-what's that in your pocket?" he asked.

"Let's just say that if Scarlett or her geek friend takes a step closer, they will get the taser treatment."

"What?"

Yuri gasped and turned around. Behind him, next to the bushes, were Scarlett and Cecil. Cecil knew about the duel, but Scarlett? Now wasn't the time to contemplate about them though, as there were more pressing issues. When he moved to face Ned again he noticed the pitch black iniquity, the taser gun, was pointed at him.

"If you try to leave I'll fire it," shouted Ned.

"Instead of wasting time with a duel, why don't you just use it? You went through all that effort to get it..." said Ted, before being interrupted by Ned who was slipping the taser back into the side pocket of his trousers.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Yeah you're right."

"We've wasted enough time. Let's just get to it."

Yuri and Ned readied their decks. Yuri's heart was racing and it was obvious they could see the fear in his eyes as they smiled devilishly. Ned especially looked as if he was expecting a quick and easy duel. There was a brief pause as the wind howled, blowing a cold gust of air in their faces and rustling some of the trees. The sun then suddenly disappeared behind a large cloud.

Ned: 4000 Yuri: 4000 Hand size: Ned: 6, Yuri: 5

Turn 1.

"I'll start!" shouted Ned as he drew a card from his deck, "I activate Double Summon. I summon Blitzkrieg Warrior."

Blitzkrieg Warrior* is level 4 WIND attribute Warrior-Type Normal Monster with 2000ATK and 100DEF. As if from nowhere, an extremely muscular man with thick black hair appeared on the field. He was wearing only a golden piece of underwear, to cover his more delicate parts, and in each hand he boasted a long blood encrusted, but still rather shiny, sword.

Hand size: Ned: 4, Yuri: 5

"Next I activate Reinforcement of the Army," he continued, subsequently taking a monster from his deck, "And I summon that monster - Marauding Captain. When he's summoned his Special Ability activates!"

Marauding Captain is a level 3 EARTH attribute Warrior-Type Effect Monster with 1200 ATK and 400 DEF. A blonde haired man wearing sliver cape, clad all over with polished armour plating and holding two gleaming swords appeared on the field.

Hand size: Ned: 2, Yuri: 5

After he was summoned another monster appeared next to him – Familiar Knight. Familiar Knight is a level 3 DARK attribute Warrior-Type Effect Monster with 1200 ATK and 1400 DEF. He too was a muscular man, as reflected in his armour, which was moulded to fit his abdominal muscles precisely. Like Marauding Captain he wore a cape, though red. Unlike the other two Warriors, he wore gauntlets to cover his hands and held a large shield in one hand and sword in the other, as opposed to two swords. In addition, his face was covered by some sort of mask which left only his eyes uncovered.

Hand size: Ned: 1, Yuri: 5

"That's not all. Marauding Captain is able to raise the morale of my other monsters."

Blitzkrieg Warrior 2000 ATK + 500 = 2500 ATK

Familiar Knight 1200 ATK + 500 = 1700 ATK

Yuri stared in awe at the monsters before him, mouth wide open. He remained silent though, taking a step back, obviously lost for words. He assumed Ned's deck was powerful, but he didn't expect him to get this many monsters onto the field in this first turn. To his right stood the Marauding Captain, then Familiar Knight, and finally, Blitzkrieg Warrior. Ned already boasted a great field advantage and he knew that if he didn't find a way to destroy at least one of his monsters he would quickly lose. Thing weren't looking good and he could hear some of Ned's cronies sniggering in the background.

"I set a card. Make your move," he growled.

Turn 2.

Yuri placed his hand on his deck and closed his eyes. He initially hoped that the heart of the cards was with him, but then he suddenly remembered he was never one to believe in such menial things, and now should be no different, instead placing his faith in nothing other than his own duelling skills. He drew a card. It was Kurilux – and he was so relieved to see her. He then looked at the other cards in hand and decided to summon a monster.

Hand size: Ned: 0, Yuri: 6

Lightning Condor* is a level 4 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1700 ATK and 1200 DEF. An entirely plain blue bird, larger than most but with a stubby neck, with yellow sparks sprouting all over it swooped down onto the field. Lightning Condor, when it's Normal Summoned, will destroy one monster on the field other than itself, or another Lightning monster on its owner's side of the field.

It was about to hit Blitzkrieg Warrior but he leapt up and moved across to a different column of the field, next to the Marauding Captain. The electrified bird transformed into a bolt of lightning that struck his former position, removing some of grass, and presumably soil from around it, leaving charred remains. The ball of lightning then disappeared, leaving Yuri's field completely empty.

"No...No, he should be destroyed! I can't, I, I, I can't lose - not now!" he cried.

Hand size: Ned: 0, Yuri: 5

Yuri shed a tear. Ned's friends laughed at his whimpering whilst Cecil and Scarlett began to look somewhat concerned for him. Cecil was about to walk up to Yuri when Ned removed the gun from his pocket again and pointed it in his direction.

"He's not called Blitzkrieg for nothing. His superior speed means he can easily avoid your pathetic monsters," said Ned in a distinctly more ominous tone than before.

"This isn't right," Cecil mumbled to himself.

Yuri set two cards face down.

"Done," said Yuri, with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

Hand size: Ned: 0, Yuri: 4

Set: Ned: 1, Yuri: 2


	4. Chapter 4 (DUEL)

_Custom cards are marked with a "*" after their first appearance in a chapter only and assume any cards without can be searched on the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki. Monsters are Attack Mode unless otherwise specified._

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 4

Set: Ned: 1, Yuri: 2

Turn 3.

Ned glared at Yuri for a few seconds, and then drew a card from his deck. He looked at it for a moment and then put it into his hand. The others smiled at Yuri, who was beginning to look distinctly more distressed. He stared at Ned's monsters for a second and then towards his cronies.

"Scared? You should be. I activate Pot of Greed. I draw 2…excellent... I equip Marauding Captain with Lightning Blade. With it he gains 800 attack points," announced Ned.

Marauding Captain 1200 ATK + 800 = 2000 ATK

Hand side: Ned: 2, Yuri: 4

In the hands of Marauding Captain appeared a long sword, which replaced his two original swords. It boasted quite a wide sliver blade, clean and much shinier than those it held before. The rest of the sword was gold in colour, except for the handle which was brown, and all around it were little sparks, which somehow failed to harm him.

"I, I'm not scared," whimpered Yuri.

"Oh really? Marauding Captain…attack!"

Marauding Captain ran across the grass toward Yuri. He flinched but managed to activate one of his face-down cards – a trap, Lightning Strike. Unknown to Ned, this trap was about to cause some major damage. Yuri revealed a card in his hand – a Thunder-Type monster, Lightning Falcon – and then, from one of the nearby clouds a bolt of lightning appeared. It immediately struck Marauding Captain who, along with his equipped weaponry disintegrated, causing Ned's other monsters to lose some of their attack, more than they initially gained, because Marauding Captain's morale boost disappeared with him, leaving them thoroughly demoralized.

Lightning Strike: Reveal 1 Thunder-Type monster in your hard when you activate this card. When this card resolves, send one card on the field to Graveyard.

Hand side: Ned: 1, Yuri: 4

Set: Ned: 1, Yuri: 1

Blitzkrieg Warrior 2500 ATK - 700 = 1800 ATK

Familiar Knight 1700 ATK - 700 = 1000 ATK

"What?! What was that card?"

"It, it, was...Lightning Strike."

"I was about to win! I'll teach you! Blitzkrieg Warrior, go!"

Blitzkrieg Warrior jumped into the air. He performed a somersault and then landed directly in front of Yuri. All it took was a single swipe with each sword. Yuri was knocked back, and as he came to his feet again, he realized Familiar Knight was fast approaching him, Blitzkrieg Warrior having already jumped back to Ned's side of the field. He tried to block him, but the force of his sword was just too much and he fell to the ground once more, much to the amusement of Ned's friends.

1800 ATK + 1000 ATK = - 2800

Yuri 4000 - 1200 Ned: 4000

"Yuri, are you ok?" asked Cecil.

"Yes," he replied, desperately trying to put on a brave face.

"I set a monster and end."

Turn 4.

A sudden gust brought more clouds overhead. The air grew colder, and the sun became masked behind a large grey cirrostratus. Unfazed by the sudden change in weather, Ned continued to glare a Yuri. Yuri drew, and then placed a card in his monster card zone, which caused a flash of light to appear inside one of the clouds. Then a bird swooped down from the sky, presumably from within one of the clouds, and hurtled towards Ned.

Like those before it, the monster was entirely blue and electrified bird lacking feathers but a shimmering coating to make up for them, although this one was noticeably smaller, and with a longer tail. Its eyes were two gleaming golden orbs, and as it hurtled towards Ned they remained fixated on him, unflinching and full of determination. Lightning Falcon* is a level 3 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1300 ATK and 500 DEF. Lightning Falcon can destroy a Spell or Trap card anywhere on the field when it's Normal Summoned.

Hand side: Ned: 1, Yuri: 3

"What is that thing?" cried one of the boys behind Ned.

The bird came crashing down into Ned's face-down card, in his Spell and Trap card zone, causing it to explode and disappear. It left behind a small crater, where the grass once was, and the sight of it caused Ned to become distressed, his confidence suddenly fading in favour of a more shocked expression. Though Yuri was now looking fiercely at him, there was still an evident underlying suddenness within his guise.

"I'll show you," he shouted, still with hint of fear in his voice, "Lightning Hound Special Summon, destroy Familiar Knight!"

Lightning Hound* can be Special Summoned when a Lightning monster is removed from the field as a result of its own effect. Lightning Hound is a level 4 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1700 ATK and 1400 DEF. There was a flash of lightning then, an entirely blue, muscular canine appeared where the lightning struck. It was coated in a similar fashion to the birds that preceded it, with shiny golden eyes and sparks flying around its body. Along with its raw strength it also boasted a long white tail and some fearsome canine teeth.

The hound appeared to let out a great howl, although nobody could hear it, and it then went on the offensive. It charged towards Familiar Knight, who braced himself, putting his shield directly in front of himself. The shield was not enough however, as Lightning Hound jumped up, avoiding the shield, and ripped his mask off. The knight fell backwards in the process and it proceeded to tear his head off with its teeth, causing blood to drip all over the ground around him.

It made quick work of Familiar Knight, who when he began to disintegrate, and Lightning Hound suddenly transformed into a blue orb. What was left of Yuri's monster was just tiny ball of electricity. Some of its energy seemed to transfer to Ned and when sparks started to appear around his body he let out an ear splitting screech and collapsed. He remained on the floor, squirming from a spasm induced by receiving such a high voltage shock from the remnants of Yuri's monster, the orb of which seemed to stay on the field. The remnants quickly transferred themselves to Yuri's side of the field, in his Spell and Trap card zone, next to his face down card.

Lightning Hound becomes a continuous Spell card after it battles. It can raise the ATK and DEF of any Lightning monster that battles by 500 points as long as it remains face-up on the field. This effect can be used twice and then Lightning Hound sent to the Graveyard.

1700 ATK - 1000 ATK = -700

Yuri: 1200 Ned: 4000 - 3300

Set: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1 Face-up: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

"What's going on? Ned, get up! Ned, can you hear me?" called Ted, looking on in awe and too scared to approach Ned's electrified body.

"Wow..." said one of the boys.

"What did you do to Ned?" shouted another.

"W-what is that thing?" said Ned as he got back on his feet.

Yuri, breathing heavily, didn't reply, instead choosing to look towards the ground. He frowned and remained silent. Ned looked towards the ball of energy then back at him.

"Familiar Knight's Special Ability activates. We both can Special Summon a level four monster from our hands. I summon Dark Blade."

Dark Blade is a level 4 DARK attribute Warrior-Type Normal Monster with 1800 ATK and 1500 DEF. Dark Blade was a muscular man, much like the Warriors that appeared on the field before him, although unlike them his armour was a lot darker, being pitch black in colour and covered in shiny metal spikes. Like Familiar Knight he wore a mask, and two beady eyes penetrated through the surrounding metal. He wore a black cape too, and in each hand held two large swords.

Yuri chose to summon another bird, another Lightning Condor*. Lightning Condor is a level 4 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1700 ATK and 1200 DEF. An entirely plain blue bird, with a stubby neck and yellow sparks sprouting all over its body swooped down onto the field. Like its fellow Lightning monsters its eyes were golden, though it was a good deal larger than the other bird, Lightning Falcon, Yuri summoned earlier in the turn.

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 2

Yuri pointed towards Blitzkrieg Warrior, and Lightning Condor instantly knew what it needed to do. As it flew up high and towards its target, the remnants left behind by Lightning Hound appeared to be drawn to it and raising its ATK in the process. The sparks seemed to form a bridge between it and the ball of energy. The sphere looked as if it was disintegrating as it appeared to fuse with Lightning Condor.

Lightning Condor 1700 ATK + 500 = 2200 ATK

Lightning Condor 1200 DEF + 500 = 1700 DEF

"What's happening? Tell me!" shouted Ned.

Blitzkrieg Warrior jumped into the air, in a desperate attempt to avoid Yuri's fast approaching bird, but its attempt was futile as it simply flew higher and faster. It broke free from the electrified sphere and made a desperate charge for Blitzkrieg Warrior. The sphere, now considerably smaller, remained stationary on Yuri's side of the field whilst Lightning Condor used its claws to grab one of Blitzkrieg Warrior's arms. He tried to stab the bird with his two swords, but quickly became paralyzed from the jolts of electricity the bird emitted. Lightning Condor then threw his body across the field and he landed on the ground, unconscious.

Lightning Condor flew back down to Yuri's side of the field, and when it did the body of Blitzkrieg Warrior faded into the ground. Ned was then given another shock as the battle damage was being calculated. Some sparks appeared around him and his arms flailed violently for a moment.

2200 ATK - 1800 ATK = -400

Yuri: 1200 Ned: 3300 - 2900

"Argh!" he yelled, "You're a mutant! You're one of them. You're like Scarlett. My dad was so happy when Sayer died - he was nothing but trouble. I never met my uncle because of him!"

"Sayer was a great man!" shouted Scarlett.

"Silly bitch! Do you know what he did to my uncle? No, I thought not! My uncle was tortured by the person he trusted the most... They're nothing but a bunch of liars."

Yuri set a card. He continued his heavy breathing and clenched his fist. Another gust of wind blew across the field, causing Ted to shiver. Ned however, remained still, fixated on Yuri.

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

Set: Ned: 0, Yuri: 2 Face-up: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

"End," said Yuri in a typically meek tone that attempted to disguise his anger.

Turn 5.

"I'm going to put an end to this right now. You must be surprised how I'm still standing, but I've faced your kind before. I can withstand your vicious onslaughts."

Ned drew a card and smiled. Yuri, still breathing heavily, let out a slight gasp at the sight of him smiling so confidently. Indeed he was surprised as he suggested, although it didn't show. His frightened expression – a veil hiding his true feelings – did well to conceal his underlying sense of surprise. Ned summoned another monster – Pitch-Dark Dragon.

Pitch-Dark Dragon is a level 3 DARK attribute Dragon-Type Union Monster with 900 ATK and 600 DEF. A portal opened up behind Ned, and from within it a pitch black dragon appeared. It was completely black, except for its claws, four on each foot and five in each hand, along with two on the tips of each wing, which were all a dark silver colour. It flew in position, next to Dark Blade, wagging its long tail in the process.

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

"Since Pitch-Dark Dragon is a Union Monster it can be equipped to Dark Blade," stated Ned.

Pitch-Dark Dragon landed, allowing Dark Blade to climb on top of it. He sat down on its back and then the dragon lifted itself off the ground again, blowing away some of the debris left behind when Lightning Condor appeared to use its effect, in Yuri's first turn.

Dark Blade: 1800 ATK + 400 = 2200 ATK

1500 DEF + 400 = 1900 DEF

"Dark Blade...Attack!"

Pitch-Dark Dragon flew over to Lightning Condor. It flapped its wings furiously, as Lightning Condor did, as it tried to avoid being shocked. They both climbed higher, encircling each other in the process, until eventually Pitch-Dark Dragon made a charge for Lightning Condor. It rammed into one of its wings using all of its might and used its sharp teeth to grab part of its neck.

Despite its best efforts it quickly became engulfed in sparks; and that was when Dark Blade stood up. He jumped across, towards Lightning Condor and used his two swords to cut the bird into three neat pieces and fell to the ground. Afterwards, the other two monsters disintegrated. Yuri began to look rather shocked, probably expecting Dark Blade to get destroyed in the attack, along with Pitch-Dark Dragon.

Lightning Condor: 2200 ATK Dark Blade: 2200 ATK

2200 ATK - 2200 ATK = -0

Yuri: 1200 Ned: 2900

"Since Dark Blade has Union Monster equipped to him that monster is destroyed instead. Blitzkrieg Warrior, finish him!"

"Kurilux*, save me!" cried Yuri as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

All of a sudden an extremely intense ball of light appeared in front of Blitzkrieg Warrior. The bright light caused Ned and others, along with Blitzkrieg Warrior to try and shield their eyes. When Blitzkrieg Warrior brought his hand to his face he dropped his two swords and when they hit the ground they suddenly disappeared. The light slowly grew larger until it unexpectedly exploded, leaving Blitzkrieg Warrior looking quite disoriented.

Blitzkrieg Warrior 1800 ATK - 0 ATK

"What?" Ned grunted, "I said attack, finish him! No! What did you do?"

"It, it, it was Kurilux, I discarded her, a...And she saved me," he spewed out.

"Well next turn I'll finish you for sure. I end."

Turn 6.

Yuri drew a card. He studied it carefully and then summoned a monster. Lightning Shark is a level 4 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1850 ATK and 1100 DEF. A long blue and electrified fish-like creature with several pointed teeth sticking from its mouth and a dorsal fin appeared from within a portal. It seemed to float gracefully through the air for a second or so, before suddenly taking a nose dive into the ground directly beneath it. There was a brief moment of silence, and then, from inside a portal in the ground a Lightning Condor started to rise up. One of the boys behind Ned gasped, but he seemed unfazed by the beast.

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

Set: Ned: 0, Yuri: 2 Face-up: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

When Yuri pointed to Blitzkrieg Warrior the ball of energy that existed on his side of the field made a connection with Lightning Hound, in the same manner it did before. A chain of sparks linked it with his monster. The ball gradually grew smaller until there was nothing left and that was when Lightning Hound went on the attack. Blitzkrieg Warrior, still disoriented, was powerless to stop it and the hound mowed him down with a single push. Sparks flew everywhere, and as with Familiar Knight before him, his head was ripped head clean off. The fallen warrior then disappeared, along with the hound, who as before, transformed into an electrically charged sphere that made its way to Yuri's Spell and Trap card zone.

Lightning Hound: 1700 ATK + 500 = 2200 ATK

1400 DEF + 500 = 1900 DEF

2200 ATK - 0 ATK = -2200

Yuri: 1200 Ned: 2900 - 700

"Arrgh," yelled Ned as he fell to the ground.

He squirmed around violently on the grass. The onlookers and now Yuri too, looked on in terror at the sight of him thrashing about on the ground. Yuri shut his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. For at least ten seconds, Ned floundered.

"I, I'll," cried Ned as he got back on his feet, "You're nothing."

"I end."

Turn 7.

"I draw! I activate the Spell, Preparation for Fusion*. By revealing one Fusion monster I can search my deck for one of its Fusion Material Monsters and one Polymerization card. I reveal Dark Blade the Invicta Knight, allowing me to search my deck for Black Knight Dragon."

Hand side: Ned: 2, Yuri: 1

"Watch out Yuri," shouted Cecil, "Dark Blade the Invicta Knight is his best monster."

"Got that right! I activate my Polymerization card to fuse Dark Blade with Black Knight Dragon in order to Fusion Summon Dark Blade the Invicta Knight!"

Dark Blade and Black Knight Dragon turned into two bright white lights which then came together as one. The result was Dark Blade now sitting on Black Knight Dragon, whose wings grew considerably and were now twice as long. His weaponry was different, and instead of the two swords he now held a black blood incrusted joust, and a large plain black shield. His mask was replaced too and now wore a thick black helmet with an archetypal knight's visor.

Dark Blade the Invicta Knight*, is a level 8 DARK attribute Dragon-Type Fusion Effect Monster with 3000 ATK and 2500 DEF. When Dark Blade the Invicta Knight destroys an opponent's monster by battle, damage equal to the original ATK of the destroyed monster is inflicted to the opponent's Life Points. When this effect resolves, one Dragon-Type monster can be Special Summoned from its controller's deck in face-up Attack or Defence Position.

(See the author's notes at the end of the chapter)

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

"It's time to end this!" yelled Ned, "Dark Blade, go, Javelin Joust attack!"

Dark Blade moved his arm high into the air. He pulled it back and then flung it forward with all his might, letting the javelin go in the process. The javelin flew through the air at considerable speed and was about to hit Lightning Hound when Yuri activated one of his face-down cards – Mirror Force.

A translucent pane appeared before his side of the field and blocked Dark Blade's attack. The joust bounced off of the Mirror Force and was deflected high into the air. It then came crashing down onto Dark Blade head, destroying him in the process.

Yuri: 1200 Ned: 700

Set: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1 Face-up: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1

"How could I lose? That's impossible! I was just about to win! I guess that's it then. I end."

Turn 8.

Yuri drew a card from his deck. It was Lightning Rex, his ace monster. He turned to look towards Cecil and Scarlett briefly and then began to glare at Ned again. His expression, although clearly angry, was indicative of someone with a sudden burst of confidence. However, he was still breathing heavily.

Hand side: Ned: 0, Yuri: 2

"Lightning Hound Tribute to Special Summon Lightning Rex."

A bolt of Lightning struck lightning Hound, causing it to explode and disappear. There was a brief pause then several more lightning bolts appeared, all around Yuri and a new monster appeared in the place where Lightning Hound was. Lightning struck four times, once to create the left leg of a new monster, then again for the right leg, then for a long thick tail, and finally for the torso which was connected to two tiny arms and a head. The new monster was far bigger than its predecessor, being an entirely blue Dinosaur in a shape that closely resembled the famed Tyrannosaurs –Rex. Lightning Rex* is a level 7 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF. Lightning Rex* can be Special Summoned in face-up Attack Position by Tributing 1 Thunder-Type "Lightning" monster.

"Rex will destroy you! I'll show you! Go!" shouted Yuri.

Lightning Rex let out a huge roar, and smashed its muscular tail against the ground. A bolt of Lightning then came down from the sky and struck Ned. When it struck him he flew backwards and went crashing into his friends behind him. They all fell to the ground with a thump and an unconscious Ned spread across their bodies.

2500 ATK - 700 = -2500

Yuri: 1200 Ned: 700 - 0

"No, no, what have I done!" Yuri cried as he fell to his knees.

_Author's Notes:__ Dark Blade the Invicta Knight's effect is pays homage to Dark Blade's Flavour Text, specifically the part which states: "They say he is a dragon-manipulating warrior from the dark world."_


	5. Chapter 5

Ted ran over to Ned and looked in horror as his friend lay there squirming. Yuri stared at them for a few seconds longer, and then pressed on the orb in the middle of his duel disk to deactivate it. He sniffled then turned and made a dash for the road.

"Freak!" called one of the boys as he was about to cross the road.

He ran along the road, around the school, not even thinking to remove the cards from his duel disk before making the desperate dash for home. Though the cards appeared securely in place when he started running, the brisk movement of his arms eventually succeeded in dislodging most of his deck. The deck shattered, scattering its contents all over the pavement that separated the road from the field.

He was always a glass half full kind of person, yet when he started at the new school he gained some optimism. However, all of that assumed hope seemed to suddenly disappear. His dream of living a normal life seemed to all of a sudden shatter at the same time as his deck, with the realisation that he was unable to control, his powers. The deck breaking apart served as a metaphor for his feelings now, and his life in general, and this was evident from his misty eyes. He fell to the ground and shed a tear, pounding his fist into the ground as he did.

"Yuri wait!" shouted a female voice.

He looked behind and saw Cecil and Scarlett helping to gather the cards from his deck. They both handed him the cards they collected, though Cecil kept hold of the Mirror Force for a moment longer. He smiled at Yuri, though it wasn't a very enthusiastic smile, more a mild movement of his mouth, and then held the card out in front of him.

"I want you to keep this," said Cecil, "I know you can put it to good use. Don't worry; I have another copy of it."

"Really?" he replied, rapidly clumping the cards they handed him back together in a form that resembled a deck.

"Yes, but even with that card, I'm not sure if it's safe for you to return to school. Not after what just happened. The whole school is bound to know what happened."

"Relax, I'm looking after him," interrupted Scarlett.

"Ok but we should really be moving on, Ned has a taser remember, and I have homework to do."

"You actually do your homework?"

"I have to go," spewed Yuri as he dumped the cards into his backpack.

"Wait. I need to talk to you about something. Which way do you go to walk home?" inquired Scarlett.

"Um, do you know the Arcadia Building?" Yuri replied.

"Actually, that's just what I wanted to talk to you about; follow me."

Scarlett grabbed Yuri's arm and tugged him along the pavement, leading him away from the school buildings and onto a busy road. He turned to look back at Cecil who showed him a contorted expression, almost a grin, but at the same time conveying a sense of discomfort. He followed them, but made no attempts to free Yuri from her clutches. When they reached the intersection Scarlett suddenly let go of him. He looked up at her, being careful to avoid becoming distracted by what a naïve mind might perceive as being her greatest gift.

"Where are you taking me," he asked.

"Relax, I know someone who can help you," she replied.

"But I have to go home..."

"You said your dad doesn't come back until late, so he won't know you're out."

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Cecil as he briskly walked ahead of them.

Scarlett seemed to ignore him, and haphazardly crossed the road. He on the other hand, wasn't so sure about crossing. He gave it some thought then quickly glanced back at Cecil. He wanted to say something, but as he was already a fair distance away, he decided to remain quiet and follow Scarlett. Just as he was starting to cross the road a car honked, startling him, causing him to sprint the rest of the way to the other side. As soon as he set foot on the other pavement Scarlett look at him with somewhat of an enthusiastic smile on her face.

"Didn't I tell you? I live at the Arcadia Movement?" she said.

"What about your parents?" he replied.

"Oh…them…my parents got sick of me so I was forced to move out. It's great there. They say I'm a valued asset. I'll introduce you to Teller, our leader. I'm sure he would love to meet you."Oh

"Are you sure about this? What if Ned was telling the truth?"

"Sayer wouldn't do that. He fought for the good of all us and he wasn't the sort of person to kill someone without a good reason. He was a psychic duellist with legendary powers and we owe a great debt to him."

"Hm..."

Suddenly Scarlett's smiled disappeared. She looked down towards him with a glaring expression, like she was staring into his soul, which made him feel very uneasy. He clenched both his hands and fixed his armed to the sides of his head and shut his eyes, only opening them when she spoke, now in a much softer tone than before.

"I'm not going to hurt you Yuri," she said, pushing his arms down from his face with her hands, "Ned isn't telling the truth, I'm sure of it. If it wasn't for Sayer, well, us psychic duellists would have nowhere to go. Society hates us but Sayer built us a sanctuary."

"When you put it that way..."

"Good. We're nearly there."

They continued along the same road for a few minutes more. When they reached a building that was considerably taller than those surrounding it Scarlett came to an abrupt halt. The other buildings where quite tall, each with traits that made them unique and individual. They, being in traditionally urban colours, made this one seem a mutant - a building that defied the norms of other buildings in the city. It was dark all over, being painted entirely in a murky brown colour from top to bottom, and dotted with tinted red windows all over.

Around the building, at least at the front, was a cleanly shaven garden, which looked as if it was tamed with military precision. The garden was featureless and grass cut so short that it looked like a plain green carpet rather than a garden in the traditional sense of the word. The path was narrow and tiled, and went in a perfectly straight line right up to the entrance. The tiles were so shiny in fact, that Yuri could make out his reflection on their ceramic surface. He took the opportunity to hastily brush some his hair from out of the corner of his eye.

As they approached the entrance doors they flung open, obviously not needing to be prompted. Their movement was brisk, yet relatively smooth at the same time. Although seeming fairly modern, the doors boasted a retro feel to them, seeing at they were made of wood and plated with gold at each corner. They were the kind of fashionable doors only the extremely wealthy were able to afford, being just one of the many symbols of the apparent wealth of the Arcadia Movement.

Behind the doors was a wide hallway, which linked to a couple of large rooms on either side, and on one side of the hallway was the entrance to a lift. At the end of the hallway was flight of stairs, and next to them, a door which looked as if it led to another, through considerably narrower, hallway. Scarlett made her way to one of the doors, the one nearest to the lift, which was situated next to it.

"Wait here. I'm going upstairs," she said in a blunt tone.

He didn't voice a response. Instead, whilst she was removing a key card from somewhere underneath her T-shirt, he peered into the doorway next to him. Inside was a girl that looked as if she was about his age. She boasted long curly black hair and was wearing a plain white T-shirt, though it wasn't nearly as insufficient as Scarlett's, and plain black leggings. Scarlett, who was too busy looking through her bag to care about what he was doing, entered the lift.

It looked as if the girl was busy setting out chairs for some kind of meeting, however it didn't take long for her to notice him. She smiled sweetly at him which caused him to blush. He tried to say something but all he managed was a weak movement of his hand. He wasn't sure if it wanted to wave at her or keep his hand motionless so all that came out was an awkward attempt at what was supposed to be a simple friendly gesture.

"You can come in if you want, I'm just setting up, no one else is around," she said, "Don't mind Scarlett, she can be quite bossy."

He slowly edged his way into the room. From the way he walked he resembled a cautious explorer, one that was venturing into an archetypal unknown structure, and who was wary of any traps that might be hidden within. Of course, this couldn't be further from the truth, and the treasure was there in plain view, directly in front of him, smiling sweetly, no traps or other potential hazards to stop him. It seemed too good to be true, but the reality was all he needed to do was not to look like a fool, and of course, obviously, make a good first impression on the gem in the middle of the room. For the average person this was an easy task, but Yuri was not an ordinary person.

He never really got along with anyone, except for his father - that was the reason why he moved school after all. So it was strange that someone actually wanted to talk to him. Meaningful conversation was something he didn't have much experience in. The thought of such a pretty girl wanting to talk to him was very mystifying so he wasn't sure how to best conduct himself around her.

Surely there were better people she could be talking to? He guessed that he was probably making a big fuss of something that was supposed to be very simple. But at the same time, he wasn't sure how he should react given the unforeseen circumstances, so as he edged closer to the pearl inside the oyster, or rather the room, lots of conflicting thoughts rushed through his head. He didn't participate in any inevitable and quintessentially long journey that most adventurers have to go through to get their prize, yet it from his body language certainly looked as if he did.

"I'm Yuri," he said in his typically very quiet voice.

"Hi Yuri, I'm Fuchsia," she replied as she put out another chair, "Is something wrong? You don't look very good."

"I think so."

"I won't tell Scarlett if you don't want me to."

"She knows about my secret already. It's why, I, umm, she took me here."

"Oh, is that so? What happened?"

"She found out about my flaw, but he made me mad and I don't like being mad, I didn't know what to do, I really didn't, I didn't want to do that, I wanted it to remain a secret, I didn't want people to know, and, and now, and, everyone will hate me, they will hate me! Everyone always hates me!"

"It's ok, nobody will hate you here. And Scarlett can get mad too sometimes, as can I. It's normal to hate the world we live in. Perhaps a hug will make you feel better? I know they make me feel better. Shame my parents are never around when I need them – stupid business trips."

She spoke in a soft tone, but her voice was different from Scarlett's, hers was more genuine, and not trying to be seductive so she could get what she wanted. He listened carefully to her; however the last part of her sentence seemed to descend into a mumble, so he wasn't able to hear it. Somehow her voice managed to soothe him, so he wasn't blushing anymore, but he still felt uncomfortable and wasn't able to bring himself to look away from the floor.

"What's that?" he asked.

"What, a hug?"

"Yes…"

"That's odd. How can you not know what one is?"

She walked over to him and placed her arms around his body. He began to blush vividly again, but their moment together was abruptly brought to an end when Scarlett burst into the room. They both looked at her and she raised an eyebrow in response. He hastily pulled himself away from her, and the moment was made even more awkward by the fact that they both remained quiet.

There was a hint of fear in Yuri's eyes as she continued her unflinching stare, but it wasn't as strong as when he was entering the room. It was like when someone appeared late and then only heard half of a conversation. And Scarlett was the person who came in half way through and perhaps got the wrong end of the stick, or in other words, the wrong gist of the exchange.

"Teller wants to see you. Come with me," Scarlett retorted.

"Thanks Fuchsia," he said, looking back up at her.

"Hopefully I'll see you again sometime," Fuchsia replied as he walked towards the door.

He waved at Fuchsia as he left the room. He then looked up at Scarlett who was now glaring at her. He stood next to Scarlett for a few seconds whilst he thought of what to say next. His expression was a mixture of confusion and fear. As Scarlett pressed the button to open the lift doors he finally spoke again and asked the obvious question.

"What does he want with me? I'm nothing."

"No, you're definitely something. He says he needs to examine you urgently," said Scarlett, her distinct smile now returning to her face.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're something rather than nothing - now shush."

"Yuri! Be careful up there, don't let them do anything you're not ok with," called Fuchsia from somewhere within the room.


	6. Chapter 6

The lift was quite compact and he began to feel uneasy about being so close to her in the confined space. After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived on the thirteenth floor. Thirteen - an odd number (no pun intended) – considered unlucky by some, but extremely lucky by others. When Scarlett said Teller needed to examine him he wasn't sure what exactly she meant. Was this going to be his lucky day, or where there some ominous forces at work?

The answer to that question lay just ahead of them, as when the lift doors opened they were greeted by a dark haired man approaching mid-life. His was face icy and unmoving, a stark contrast to the warmth he experienced when he met Fuchsia downstairs. Yuri felt himself growing cold just looking at the man, and there was something that looked inherently suspicious about him, but perhaps he was feeling that way just because he felt vulnerable. Though he thought there was something suspicious going on, he was unable to work what exactly was making him feel this way. He assumed it was probably just the way the man stared at them as they left the lift, but what did Fuchsia mean when she said to "be careful"?

His choice of attire made him look very professional, yet some of the machinery in the rooms lining the narrow corridor looked distinctly unprofessional in comparison, appearing somewhat dirty in comparison to his clean brown blazer. Why would an organization created to protect people have chairs that resemble archetypal torture devices? One room in particular caught his attention.

It was dominated by a chair of sorts. The black fabric of the chair looked comfy and inviting but all of the wire that surrounded it made it look rather incriminating. He wasn't as naive to think this chair was one of those where one was able to sit down and relax, perhaps with a newspaper or a good book as a companion, so what was its purpose? He became fixated on that one room. The others all boasted windows that beckoned him to take a peek inside too, but this one worried him the most since there was also another frightful man inside.

The man inside the room was at a computer busily typing away, so he wasn't able to get a clear view of his face. However he did manage to work out that he was wearing a white coat typical of those working a science laboratory. As he continued to study the man, one of the lights in the corridor began to flicker, quickly diverting his attention. It was at that moment that his heart suddenly began to beat much faster, in tandem with the flickering of the light.

"Thank you Scarlett, you may go now," said the man in a low, slightly menacing tone.

"Yuri you'll be fine, they just need to perform a few quick tests, that's all," she said in a cheery voice.

Scarlett turned to face the lift and opened it. As she entered the man shifted his attention towards Yuri. He looked up at the man, whose hair, he noted, was in a very similar style to his own - short, but somewhat messy, and black. His own hair would be tidy - in fact he did attempt to quickly tidy it before entering the building - but his hug with Fuchsia provoked it, sending it into a kind of rage which made it appear untameable, even though all that was needed was a quick brush.

"So, you must be Yuri. Scarlett has told me all about you. She says you're very powerful. She also said you've been wondering why someone of her stature would be so keen to get to know you. You see, Scarlett has the ability to sense abilities of a duellist. It's time we found out just how powerful you really are; come with me, we need to conduct some trials," said the man as he made his way across to the door to the nearest room, the one with the other man in it.

"Will it hurt?"

"What?"

"The test..."

"If you are as powerful as Scarlett described, then no it shouldn't hurt, well, not that much anyway. You may feel a tingle. Don't worry, you'll be fine, trust me."

Yuri followed the man as he walked into the room. The questionable looking chair towards the middle of the room sent his heart racing again, but that wasn't the only scary thing about the room. Inside the room there weren't any external windows; unkempt cupboards and worktops surrounded the edge of the room, except on the wall that separated it from the corridor, and opposite the chair was a small desk. Inside the room there was also another man. He was sat on a chair facing one of the cupboards, using part of the worktop as a desk. His hair was brown, with a long fringe, and it also extended to his shoulders. He was dressed entirely in white, with trousers and long sleeved T-shirt underneath is laboratory coat.

"This is my assistant, Psycho," said the man.

"Hello," replied the man.

"Psycho - get the machine ready!"

"Yes sir!"

"So, Yuri, from what Scarlett told me it sounds as if you've been having some trouble in school. Some people never learn! What people don't realize is your powers are a gift, and if they're not careful they could come back to haunt them when they're least expecting them..."

"Are you sure about this? The chair looks scary."

Yuri looked ahead in horror as Psycho opened up two rings on the chair, one on each arm, specially designed to hold down a person's wrists. Psycho appeared to smile, though it wasn't a friendly smile, more an evil smirk. Yuri gasped and then the man looked down at him.

"Scarlett told me all about Ned, anyway, first things first. You shouldn't be afraid of the chair. The chair is there to help us, to help you. All that separates us from knowing the reason why some people are destined to become psychic duellists is a tiny crevice. We know there is a deeper connection with the duel monsters, but how? By stepping into the chair you'll be doing yourself a favour."

"Umm, ok, but I really don't know. Why do you need this chair?"

"It's not something that can be easily explained, and we have very little time. You have to be back home soon don't you?"

"Yes, my dad will get worried."

Just then another man walked across the corridor towards the lift. He too was wearing professional attire. The man noticed him and turned to look at him. When he did they locked eyes.

"Are you going to the ground floor for the meeting?" asked the man to the one in the corridor.

"Yes I am," he replied.

"Tell them I'll be down in a few minutes. I just need to conduct a little research."

"Ok."

The man then turned to look back at Yuri as the other man left for the lift. Yuri gulped and forced himself into the chair, after taking his backpack off of course, which he placed beside it. When he did the man held his arms tightly in place, allowing the metal straps on either side of the chair to be brought over the top of his wrists and clicked into position. Psycho then walked towards the area of the worktop he was sat at earlier and took a small control panel from its surface. There was a brief pause before man resumed talking to Yuri.

"You're quite muscular aren't you Yuri?" continued the man, "Why do you allow yourself get pushed around at school?"

"I don't know," he replied in a very weak voice, "I didn't want people to know about my secret..."

"Nonsense, your powers are a gift, not a flaw, no matter what people say. This won't hurt - that much."

Suddenly some lights in front of Psycho was at came on. Yuri was hit with a jolt of electricity. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as tightly as he could. Muscles all over his body went from being fairly relaxed, to being very tense and his arms and legs increased in size, if only slightly. Then, as much more electricity passed through his body, sparks began to fly around the chair. One of the other lights on the control panel then began flashing red, which made Psycho to smile for some reason.

"Yuri, stop! You mustn't fight the machine!" shouted the man.

"Argh!" he screamed, trying desperately to break himself free from the chair, but to no avail.

"Yuri! You'll break the machine if you carry on like this!"

"Chair is hurting! Please, I want to go home now!"

Though any normal person would find it painful to watch, Psycho seemed to delight in watching Yuri squirm. Just the name "Psycho" would be enough to cast fear in the minds of some people. But he was not content with just a name, as actions tended to speak louder than words. He needed a reputation to go along with the name, and striking fear into this new boy was one way to go about that. It was obvious he enjoyed his job, whatever his job was supposed to be. He wasn't the stereotypical torturer - no - this was supposed to be research. He didn't care about the errant sparks everywhere, even though he must have known it wasn't at all safe to have the electricity misbehaving, or more to the point, be pushing Yuri's powers to the limit.

"Ahhh, turn it off! Turn it off! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Yes sir," responded Psycho, his previous confidence now replaced by a distinct sense of fear, given the other man's sudden change in tone.

Drops of sweat were now streaking all over Yuri's face as continued to shriek and thrash about in the chair. The agonising sounds echoed throughout the corridor and through the doors to the adjoining stairwell. It was like a great beast was brought to its very knees by an expert killer, and like a lamb to the slaughter, he knew there was little hope for an escape, but he fought on anyway. The intensity of the electricity made his heart beat faster and faster, and his movements grew ever more desperate as tried without success to escape from the chair. He let out one last piercing scream, and just before Psycho pressed the button to stop the machine his body seemed to give up, no longer able to withstand the torture. It was a truly shocking audial.

"What did the machine say about his power level?"

"It's over nine-thousand!"

"What - nine-thousand? There's no way that could be right!"

(Search: "It's over 9000!" if you're confused)

"Since you told me to turn it off I wasn't able to get an accurate reading..."

"Teller! What's going on?" shouted a female voice, "You didn't need to put him through that."

"Why should you care? You haven't even met him before!" Teller replied, suddenly sounding quite angry.

"Yuri, are you alright?"

Yuri didn't reply. He was now slouched in the chair with his eyes closed. His head was leaning to one side and he looked exhausted, perhaps close to fainting. Psycho looked towards her in disgust as she approached but she took no notice of him. She took hold of Yuri's hand but there was still no response from him.

"How do you know his name?" inquired Teller.

"I met him briefly while I was downstairs setting up. Yuri, please wake-up."

"He is awake!" protested Psycho, "The machine says his body is functioning normally again. He's probably just resting his eyes."

"Uhhh," mumbled Yuri, still not opening his eyes.

"There was really no need to do this," said Fuchsia.

"If you insist... why are you up here anyway? You have no business being here."

"I ran up the stairs because I heard screaming..."

"Everything is under control!"

"No it's not! Look at the state he's in."

"We were just conducting some tests. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a moment alone with Yuri," said Teller.

Without any fuss both of them went outside and Psycho closed the door behind him. Psycho went off into another room whilst Fuchsia stayed close to the window, in the hopes of trying to figure out what Teller was talking to Yuri about. Teller gave her an angry glance and considered drawing the curtains but decided not to.

"Yuri, the Arcadia Movement could really do with someone of your stature, and you appeared just at the right moment. This is a time of great upheaval for the Movement. The reason some of us are going to be in the meeting downstairs is because one of us has gone missing. For some reason, society looks down on us, but with your help we can grow ever more powerful," said Teller.

"Why me?" replied Yuri, only now opening his eyes.

"You're more powerful than you think. Join me, and we can harness your powers. You can be an amazing duellist with our help. Together we'll fight for psychic duellists everywhere!"

"I don't want to duel - I'm no good at duelling. Please, I want to go home!"

"Doesn't being here give you a strong sense of solidarity? Everyone here is like you, and they use their powers for good. And you can too. Your powers are a gift which has so much potential. I'll let you think about it. I want you back here tomorrow at the same time, and remember to bring your deck. We need to do more tests. I'll make sure Scarlett brings you here - she has her ways - so it'll be no use hiding. Should you accept, and if all goes well, I'll let you have some extra special duel monsters cards."

Teller undid the metal rings holding Yuri's arms down and he slowly rose up from the chair and grabbed his backpack from the side as he did. He stumbled across to the desk opposite and took a moment to take some deep breaths, and then walked along the wall towards the door, which Teller opened for him. He walked a couple more steps then fell against the doorframe, which he held onto.

"Fuchsia," Teller declared as he too exited the room, "I think it's best you escort Yuri home, especially since you seem to care so much about him. However you must not talk about what just happened. Do you hear me? His dad should know that we want to help him. Know that if I don't see Yuri back here tomorrow there will be consequences."

"Ok…" she replied.

"If all goes well then you shall be rewarded. You may go now. Psycho, come with me, we need to see if the machine is damaged."

"Yes sir," Psycho replied entering the room they were just in.

Teller followed him in and proceeded to close the door. Fuchsia looked towards Yuri, who was still breathing heavily. He tried to look up at her but was too focused on getting his breath back to put any energy into acknowledging her presence.

"Nobody should have to go through that," she said, sounding quite concerned, "Teller never explained to me why that chair is needed but we all have to do it. I remember when I did; Teller was impressed with me too. Here, let me help you."

She placed her arm under his shoulder and gradually pulled him away from the wall. He made no attempts to resist her, quite the opposite. He felt so weak it was as if he was about to collapse. With her help he staggered towards the lift, which she opened using a key card from her trouser pocket.

"Hey, you're very muscular, these are quite impressive," she said.

"That's what the scary man said," he mumbled in reply.

"You mean Teller."

"I think so."

As the lift descended through the building he began to wonder what his father would think about having her come home with him. He didn't feel like arguing when Teller said to stick together but it couldn't be that bad, could it? After all, it wasn't often he got the chance to speak with people, let alone someone like her. He originally thought of Scarlett as an exception, but then he didn't really consider her to be very friendly anyway, in spite of her promise to protect him from the school bullies. Cecil was alright, but a loner like him, so not very talkative, but she was something else entirely. Something about her made him feel a sense of security he didn't feel when he when he was around Cecil and Scarlett.

He didn't think it was possible for him to make in any lasting friendships with anyone, yet for the couple of weeks his relationships with Cecil and Scarlett seemed to be cementing. Having even one friend was quite an achievement for him. So surely, his dad wouldn't mind him finally having some friends? He wasn't sure what to expect from his dad though.

Perhaps he might accept the fact and simply move on, or maybe he would play the vulnerable card again? Or might he tease him simply because she's a girl and think that they were more than "just friends" when in fact they only just met. But the fact that they were merely friends was surely obvious seeing as he only started at his new school a few days ago.

He hoped his dad wasn't going to be that naive, but even to him he rarely talked, despite spending most of his time at home, so of course he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to react. His dad was often too busy, with work or at work, to spend time interacting with him anyway, so if anything, he should be pleased Yuri was allowing this girl into his lonely life seeing as he didn't have the time to properly look after him himself. And besides, was it such a crime if this girl did come to stay at his house for a while?


	7. Chapter 7

**A preliminary note from, the author:**_The next chapter will have to wait until the new year since, although I have written up to chapter fourteen so far, I am gradually proofreading them and chapter eight contains (part of) a duel which I want to make sure I have right. If you don't mind giving a critique then you can see chapters not yet uploaded to the Internet. I'm not too fond of so-called 'fluff' myself but this site is full of fangirls so I have to make some sacrifices if I want to keep people interested._

When they left the building, most of the clouds that were floating above the area previously were no longer there. Despite this, the sun still succeeded in hiding, having disappeared between some buildings, and the area still kept an eerie feel to it. It was starting to get late, and Yuri's dad was going to be home soon, so they needed to be quick. Thankfully Yuri was now back on his feet, having recovered from the ordeal on the thirteenth floor. As they came to the road Fuchsia stopped to look at him.

"Which way is your house?" she asked.

"Oh, umm, it's not far," he replied.

"No silly, which way is it?"

"We turn left."

"Alright, you lead the way."

"I was, umm wondering, if, you, umm wanted to meet again sometime? No! That was a stupid question...!"

"I'd love to. Where were you thinking?"

Just then the ball of light that was Kurilux appeared from nowhere. She smiled at him, although he appeared less than impressed with her. His embarrassment immediately turned to rage and he began to grumble at her, though since he was looking towards the ground, he failed to notice Fuchsia was able to see her too, and was examining the concentrated ball of light.

"No, no, why did you have to appear now! I was busy talking to Fuchsia. Why do you always appear at the wrong time? Now she will think I'm stupid!"

"It's ok, I can see her too. I have something similar, his name is Kurirose, but I left my cards at home. She's so cute, what's her name?"

He moved his head up from the ground to focus on Fuchsia who was now smiling directly at him. Kurilux quickly moved into his line of sight though, so he was forced to move his head if he wanted to maintain eye contact with her. Kurilux looked cheerfully at him, but he tried his best to ignore her.

"Her name is Kurilux," he said as quickly as he could.

"Hi Kurilux, is he always like this when you appear?"

Kurilux turned to look at her and let out a squeal, a fine example of her usual glee. Somehow she always appeared to remain happy, in spite of how Yuri often spoke to her. Yuri began to blush again, guessing what Kurilux's answer to the question was. Fuchsia giggled in response, which made his face become even redder. Some people in the road turned the heads to look at the trio but they quickly moved on.

"I'm not always like this," he protested with a stamp of his foot.

"Oh really?" she sniggered.

"Yes!"

"Sorry, it's just you look so cute when you're mad. So, where were you thinking of taking me?"

"I don't know."

"Well it was obviously somewhere, otherwise you wouldn't have asked. Look, I'll let you calm down and you can think about it."

"Ok."

The walk home took longer than expected as although he was able to stand he was still getting his energy back. They talked about all kind of things, but it wasn't forced like with Scarlett. She didn't probe him about things he didn't want to talk about, and, unfortunately for him, Kurilux never went away. She was constantly vying for both of their attention but he tried his best to ignore her. She even circled around his head a few times which caused Fuchsia start giggling again.

Eventually it was decided that they were to meet at a café near to where he lived, on Friday after school. He wanted to do it the next day, but was scared of what might happen if he didn't turn up to the Arcadia Building; he did tell her this and it seemed to concern her. Although she didn't pester him about the other things he didn't want to talk about, she really wanted to know what Teller spoke to him about when she and Psycho were asked to leave the room. Was she being intrusive? Probably - but it did seem to be out of genuine concern. She knew Teller was up to something, and assume there there was no way that it was only his muscles that caused him to him.

When they reached his apartment block he finally decided to tell her. He positioned his face opposite the iris recognition device, and took a deep breath. The door immediately slid open and when they entered the lift he decided it was time to be more open about his exchange with Teller. Kurilux disappeared moments earlier so there wasn't anything to distract him anymore, so in a sense he was out of excuses.

"He says I'm powerful. He wants me to join and he said he'll give me nice cards, but I'm no good at duelling..."

"Be careful Yuri. If you're not happy about something then tell them. The Arcadia Movement has changed a lot since I first became a member. I just wanted somewhere where I could make some friends I could relate to, but now I know it's more than just a hangout for psychic duellists. I think Teller has been taking it in the wrong direction since he took over from Check*"

When they entered the apartment it became clear his father wasn't home before them, so there was no way of him knowing that he stayed outside for the afternoon, so he breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was as he left it this morning, so the cards were still scattered across part of his room. As he didn't expect to have anyone round he made no rush to clean it, having planned to do so after he got home from school. Of course, at the time he didn't expect he was going to have someone come over, let alone, know that he was going to make another new friend.

Fuchsia carefully studied the house from her position by the entrance, taking a moment to have a good look into every room. There was the main room, with a sofa, a TV and some cabinets. This was the one where they were both standing, and it was connected to all of the other rooms. Obviously there was a kitchen and bathroom, and there were located opposide the entrance. To the side of the apartment were the two bedrooms, a master bedrom, and Yuri's room. The final room, the smallest, located opposide the the two bedrooms, contained a surprising mix of objects. Inside it was the shoe rack and several coat hangers, but also a treadmill, which stood out like penguin at the North Pole.

"Hey, you have a treadmill, that's so cool," she said.

"It's my dad's. When I get mad I go on it to calm down. I use it a lot," he replied, in a frail tone that was typical of him.

"I noticed you do a lot of exercise. For someone who doesn't go out much your muscles a pretty impressive."

"I, umm, need - do you, umm, you want something, to eat?"

"It's alright, I'm fine."

"Oh..."

"I'm only staying until your dad gets back, remember? You do what you usually do and don't worry about me."

"Umm, ok. I will just have a sandwich."

"I take it your room the one with the cards on the floor..."

"No."

He dashed over to his room and shoved the mass of cards underneath his bed. A couple of them got bent as a result of the franticness of his actions but he didn't appear to care. His primary concern was to have them out of sight, not that having a few cards scattered across part of the floor was too much of an issue, seeing as they probably weren't going to be using his room anyway. When he turned to dash back out of the room he was stopped by Fuchsia who was blocking the doorway. His found his eyes were level with her chest, which made him feel uncomfortable, so he hastily moved them up so that he was peering into her own. She held a playful expression and winked, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.

"I think it is," she said with a wink, "You're so funny."

"Really?" he said beginning to blush again.

"I haven't heard anyone say such a blatant lie before. Did you really think you'd get away with that one, mmm?"

"Um..."

"Sorry, I'm embarrassing you again, aren't I? I'll let you get on with your dinner. After your dad gets home I have go though. If you give me a piece of paper I'll write my mobile phone and home numbers down for you."

"Ok. Do you want the TV on?"

"Sure, why not? Is it ok if I tear a piece off of that sheet on your bed?"

"Ok."

Yuri turned the TV on for her then went off to get his dinner ready. He guessed it must have been past six o'clock seeing as the news was on, and that meant his dad was going to be home anytime soon. She flicked through some of the channels but eventually decided to stick to watching the news.

"Now, have you ever wished you could revive a lost friend or relative?" said the newsreader, "Researchers at New Domino University say this is possible, and trials of inserting the DNA of someone who died nearly fifty years ago into cells have been successful. Amazing isn't it? I'll pass you over to my colleague Satoshi for more information."

"Yes, thank you, I'm joined now by one of the scientists behind the project and he will explain how it works. Thank you for being with us Professor Dy," said Satoshi, who was located in a laboratory with another man.

"My pleasure; ok so here's how it works. We have a zygote, yes, and what we do is remove the old DNA and replace it with some that we have been storing at a very low temperature. We have to store the DNA at such low temperatures because otherwise it will get damaged. Then afterwards we incubate the egg, and if all goes well, we should be able to start trials with surrogate mothers soon. The implications of this are staggering you know, we could revive Yugi Mouto or Seto Kaiba for example, well maybe not Seto Kaiba, but you get the idea. Then again, environment is a big factor in a person's development, so if Kaiba were given to a loving family he might not grow up to be so sour, who knows?" said the scientist.

"Wow, that's amazing. Surely your work deserves a Nobel Prize if everything goes according to plan?"

"I hope we do get one, but I won't be too sad if we don't; the team building an entire brain from stem cells are just as worthy I think, like us, they've spent years on the project and it's definitely something to watch out for as well."

"True. If you could pick anyone to revive, who would it be?"

"Ooh, that's a tough one; probably my wife, because I've never been able to get over her death. It's been the driving force behind this project. There were times when I thought it was never going to be possible, but the thought of her coming back is what kept me going."

"Wow, I see. One more thing, if this technology were to get in the wrong hands shall we say, do think it could be used to create an army of clones?"

"Well it's certainly possible, if one has enough strands of DNA of course, I mean we've cloned animals before, but I doubt anyone would be crazy enough to want to do such a thing."

"I do hope not. Thank you for your time and now it's back to you in the..."

Suddenly the front door to the apartment opened. It was Yuri's dad. As soon as he walked in he let out a gasp of amazement. Yuri rushed out of the kitchen to meet him, and Fuchsia also diverted her attention to him. They both looked at him with a blank expression and he stared back at them as he opened the door.

"Yuri who is the fine lady you've brought home with you? Is she from school?" he said as he walked through the door.

"Yuri, let me handle this," she said as she got up from the sofa, "Sorry, I can explain. My name is Fuchsia, and I come from the Arcadia Movement..."

"You what – really? Since when, is Yuri a member of the Arcadia Movement?"

"He's not. Well not yet anyway. His friend from school found out about his powers so she took him to the Arcadia Building, and I was told to escort him home so that I could talk to you."

"I see. Can you come with me for a minute; I want to talk to you."

"No, please," cried Yuri as he shed a tear, "Fuchsia is really nice to me. I don't want her to go."

His dad walked into his room, the one next to Yuri's. He gestured for Fuchsia to follow him in, which she did. He then shut the door and began talking to her. Yuri abruptly stopped what he was doing and placed his head against the door, to look through the keyhole, to see if he could hear what was being said.

"Yuri is very vulnerable. I can't have him becoming friends with just anyone. How do I know you're not going to take advantage of him?" he said.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'll leave if you want me to," she responded.

"There's no need for you to leave. Just tell me why you're here and what you want with Yuri."

"I don't want anything out of him. I was only ordered to escort him home. Yuri is vulnerable; I can see that from the way he acts, so I'm going to make sure nobody takes advantage of him."

"How do I know you're not just saying that?"

"It hurts me to say this, but between you and me, I don't agree with everything the Arcadia Movement does, but there are lots of people just like him there and, as fellow psychics, they want to get to know him. I know Yuri is quite vulnerable, I guessed that from the way he behaves, and I want to be his friend, not take advantage of him. He's invited me to the café on Friday, is that alright with you?"

"I can't see anything wrong with it. Sorry for getting angry. You seem like a very sweet person."

"Thanks. Yuri is very cute by the way."

His dad smiled at her, and hearing those words Yuri began to blush again. When his dad began to walk towards the door he made a sprint for the kitchen and got back to preparing his sandwich, in the hope that he was not discovered.

"You can call me Max, and you can stay for dinner if you want," his dad said as he twisted the doorknob.

"No, it's ok, really. I should be going back home now, it's getting late. I'll just say good bye to Yuri and I'll be off." she replied.

She walked into the kitchen and placed her arms around his chest, which caused him to flitch. The knife he was holding dropped onto the work surface with a clang. His reaction to her affection made her giggle and his father watched with a confused expression.

"Hug?" He asked, obviously confused by her show of affection.

"Yes - don't worry - you'll get used to my hugs eventually," she replied as she let go of him.

After Fuchsia left his dad didn't mention her again. Yuri was left to finish his dinner in peace while his dad did some exercise on the treadmill. Once he finished his dinner he got ready for bed. While in bed he pondered what Scarlett thought of Fuchsia. She didn't look at if she cared too much about him talking to her but that fact she raised an eyebrow made him wonder, though that he was very good an gauging people's emotions. The next day at school Scarlett was waiting near to the entrance for him when he arrived. She didn't look annoyed, but at the same time she didn't look distinctly happy either. Her face was unmoving, which was unusual given how she usually came across as quite eccentric and full of life.

*Check is a character in Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia.


	8. Chapter 8 (DUEL)

_Custom cards are marked with a "*" after their first appearance in a chapter only. Monsters are Attack Mode unless otherwise specified. The archetype Psycho uses in this duel, I feel, is unnecessarily complicated so if he duels in the future he will probably use a different deck. This duel includes an Asychro Summon, which in short, is a Sychro Summon without a Tuner Monster. It's an idea I had; see the end notes for further information._

Yuri cautiously made his way towards Scarlett, who like at his first day at school was wearing a short sleeved top that left most of her chest unshielded from prying eyes. A few of the other students looked at him as he walked towards her, but he wasn't bothered. She kept her eyes fixed on him and didn't even blink once. Maybe she was annoyed with him? It wasn't as if she liked him that much though.

She was always dragging him around, like a child did their toy, a teddy bear perhaps, and like the teddy, he didn't have much of a say in proceedings. Now it looked as if he was about to be discarded, a toy once loved but then quickly forgotten, tossed aside and left to rot and fade away into a distant memory. It appeared that her usual playful attitude was swapped in favour of a more serious one, but he didn't know for sure. He gulped and then she decided to speak.

"So, what were you doing with her yesterday?" she asked, sounding somewhat cheerful.

"I, umm, it was, I don't know?" he replied.

"I saw you two walking together."

"Teller, umm, he said, she had to talk with my dad."

She smiled at him and then shifted some of her hair from around her mouth to behind her ears. She leaned over him and began to whisper something in his ear. The sensation of her gentle voice in his ear made him freeze and the words made him blush.

"You like her don't you?" she whispered.

"N-no, I don't, how do you know?" he protested.

"So you do like her?"

"No."

"But I saw you, and that ball of light - what's her name – Kurilux, and you looked so embarrassed. You were behaving differently around her, it was obvious."

"I don't know."

"Well, I have you all to myself today, as she shouldn't be there today. I assume Teller told you that I would be escorting you to the Arcadia Building again. We should probably head to lesson now."

When they entered the building, everyone tried to avoid them, keeping as far away as physically possible. This made Scarlett smile and Yuri continue to wonder why everyone was so scared of her. Or perhaps they were more scared of him now? After all, with modern technology, it was possible to have news spread like, well, wildfire.

Ned was nowhere to be seen, so they must have known something was up. At first it looked like David Vs Goliath, with Ned as Goliath, but after their duel things weren't so clear cut. Was it he who was now Goliath and Ned David? And like Goliath, was he destined to fall spectacularly after his new found sense of infamousness? That was a question only time itself was able to answer, and as time when on, it became clearer that they were just as much scared of him as they were Scarlett.

In math, one of the few lessons he didn't have with Scarlett, the boy who he sat next to in the previous lesson opted to sit elsewhere. Of course, the teacher was none the wiser but she reluctantly agreed, seeing as the boy's excuse must have been a good enough one. After math it was lunchtime. He sat at the usual table with her and Cecil, who spent the time talking about his school project, not that either Scarlett or Yuri were that interested. He was completely oblivious to that fact though.

Eventually it was home time. As they walked out of school everyone ran out of their way - everyone except for Ted. When they were turning onto the road that led out of school he refused to be like the others. Instead he actually approached them. Scarlett stopped and gave him an angry look, which seemed to suggest the words "how dare you stand up to me".

"I-I'm not scared of you," he spluttered.

"Oh really - you sound pretty scared to me," she replied, managing to remain calm.

"Well I'm not."

"I suggest you move out of our way, or I'll make you."

By now a small crowd was gathered around them. Ted continued his act of bravery, or rather insanity, and refused to budge. Scarlett unzipped her handbag, which until now was rested on her shoulder. From her handbag she took a red duel disk and a card from the top of her deck. The duel disk was entirely red, except for the orb in the middle, which was a bright shade of pink. She strapped the duel disk around her arm and placed the card – Hinotama, a Magic card - into one of the slots of the Magic and Trap card zone.

As soon as she did a glowing yellow orb about the size of her head appeared above her head. It moved from just above her head, through the air, towards Ted who jumped backwards. The ball of fire smashed into the pavement and quickly disintegrated. As Scarlett move forward Yuri made sure to stick as close as possible to her, and the onlookers edged away from them. Ted, now on the floor, crawled as fast as he could away from Scarlett who was fast approaching him.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered.

They ignored him and continued along the road out of school. As they walked to towards the Arcadia Building Yuri's heart began to beat faster as he thought of what they might have planned for him. He wanted to question Scarlett, but after what she did to Ted he felt too scared to say anything. Despite this, he continued to stay close to her. When they reached the Arcadia Building, some people were tending to part of the path near to the entrance. The path was still squeaky clean but there was something different about it. Next to the entrance was a white sack, which from its shape, look as if there was body inside it. When they entered the building they were immediately greeted by Teller, who was stood on the inside of the main entrance.

"Excuse the stench," he said in a sombre tone, "Someone thought it acceptable to dump this beheaded body onto our path. Without a head we can't know for sure whose body it is, but we have a good idea. Oh well, it's a price we have to pay. Come with me, we have much to do."

His words didn't faze Yuri at first, but as he casually walked away from him, towards a door in the distance, it did cross his mind that he may not have any regard for human life. He remained still, mulling over his statement, even though he and Scarlett were heading off into another section of the building. Noting he was stood motionless in front of the entrance, Scarlett turned and her eyes fixed with his. The look on her face suggested that she thought nothing of Teller's remarks and was still eager to accept his command.

Both of them then followed Teller down the hallway. Rather than take the lift, they headed down to the end of the hallway to a door which led them to a corridor lined with several smallish rooms. At the end of the corridor was a final door. And through that door was what looked like a duel arena. When they entered they saw Psycho.

He was wearing the same clothes as the day before, a white lab coat and black trousers, and was stood at the far end of the duelling area. The sight of him made Yuri's heart beat faster and faster, and it looked as if he could sense the fear within him because he smirked directly at him. Teller too was concerned at Psycho's confidence, but for an altogether different reason.

"If the results of yesterday's test are true," Teller declared, "Then you may not be smiling for much longer. Yuri that's the man who hurt you yesterday - how did he make you feel?"

"Mad," responded Yuri in a meek tone.

"Yes, that's right, and now's your chance to hurt him back. I want you to let out all that anger in a duel."

"Yeah, let's see if you're as tough as the results said you were!" shouted Psycho.

"But I'm no good at duelling," Yuri mumbled.

"Are you sure? Yesterday's results suggested you were a very good duellist, yet Psycho still had the audacity to tell me you were a freak afterwards. He said you were a freak! Are you going to stand there and take that?" Teller said as he looked towards Yuri.

"Really?"

"You're a freak, a freak! You hear me? I don't care if you get mad, you probably couldn't harm a fly!" Psycho Yelled as he pointed a finger, connected to the arm without his duel disk, at Yuri.

"See, there he goes again, a freak."

"Stop, please, you're making me mad! You won't like it when I'm mad," said Yuri, his face now becoming re with anger.

"What's a stupid little cunt like you going to do anyway?" yelled Psycho.

"Psycho is stubborn. He will never listen. It's time you show him what happens to people who make you mad."

"I'll show you!" shouted Yuri.

His voice suddenly turned from a meek undertone to a confident monotone. Yuri removed his duel disk from his backpack and strapped it onto his arm. He then tapped the blue orb in the middle of his duel disk, which caused it to glow, and his duel disk to open up. With the duel disk ready, his face suddenly turned from one of fear into one of great anger. This face was one that lacked the childlike cuteness that Fuchsia seemed to admire, being of a much more serious nature. It portrayed a sense of recently acquired rage as the once cute boy fell into a state of mercilessness. He made his way across the arena so that he was opposite Psycho, whose entirely dark grey (but still standard 5ds) duel disk was already active. They then both drew five cards.

"I'll start!" yelled Psycho, "I activate the Spell card Processor – Single Core and it gains a Process Counter."

Turn 1.

Hand size = Psycho 6, Yuri 5

On Psycho's field a continuous spell card faded into view. It boasted the image of a typical computer processor with a single core. In front of it appeared the processor depicted in the card's image. It was a small black box on a kind of plate, a green plate full of white lines (BUS lines**). The Process Counter didn't look like anything as it was placed inside of the Processor – Single Core.

Processor – Single Core: 1 Process Counter

"I place one card face down and summon Binary – Copy* and it gains two On Counters which each increase its attack and defence by one-hundred points."

Hand size = Psycho 3, Yuri 5, Set: Psycho 1, Yuri 0

On the field in front of the Processer – Single Core appeared an eight digit string of green zeroes and ones in this combination: 00001100. Binary – Copy is a level 3 EARTH attribute Machine-Type Effect Monster with 1500 ATK and 1500 DEF.

Two On Counters on Binary – Copy:

1500 ATK + 200 = 1700 ATK, 1500 DEF + 200 = 1700 DEF

"How could someone as meagre as you get such a high power level? You're not even worthy of my presence! I will break you! Make your move!"

Turn 2.

Yuri didn't look worried in the slightest despite Psycho's solid start. He drew a card and looked at it. It was Lightening Falcon - the monster he used in his previous duel to destroy one of Ned's face down cards. He placed it onto one of his monster card zones and it appeared high above the field, just underneath the ceiling of the arena.

Hand size: Psycho 3, Yuri 5

Lightning Falcon* is a level 3 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1300 ATK and 500 DEF. The entirely blue bird, lacking any feathers and with two gleaming golden orbs for eyes became encased with bright white sparks. It stayed high in the air for a second, like it was charging up for the attack, and then began to dive bomb, straight into Psycho's face down card which was subsequently destroyed, as it wasn't something he was able to activate in response to effect. Lightning Falcon can destroy a Spell or Trap card anywhere on the field when it's Normal Summoned.

After the effect of his Lightning Falcon was resolved, and it destroyed, he placed a face down card of his own and glanced at the other cards in his hand, one of which was Kurilux. Looking at her made him smile for some reason. However, Psycho was none the wiser, and as he declared the end of his turn, he too smiled.

Hand size: Psycho 3, Yuri 4, Set: Psycho 0, Yuri 1

"I end," Yuri declared.

Turn 3.

Processor – Single Core: 2 Process Counters

Two more On Counters on Binary – Copy:

1700 ATK + 200 = 1900 ATK, 1700 DEF + 200 = 1900 DEF

Hand size: Psycho 4, Yuri 4

"I expected more than that. That was pathetic! I draw. My monster gains two more On Counters as it is my Standby Phase and my Processor – Single Core gains another Process Counter. I now move one Process Counter to my monster and activate its effect. By removing four On Counters and a Process Counter I can Special Summon one Copy Token* which has the same effect and original attack and defence values."

Processor – Single Core: 1 Process Counter

Remove four On Counters from Binary – Copy:

1900 ATK – 400 = 1500 ATK, 1900 DEF – 400 = 1500 DEF

The string of binary code went from being 00001100 to 00001111 to 00000000 within the space of a second, and next to it appeared a string of binary code with the numbers: 00000000 appeared. This too was level 3 and with 1500 ATK and 1500 DEF and of the same attribute.

"I Asyncronize** Binary – Copy and the Copy Token to summon Process – Delete."

The Copy Token moved in front of Binary – Copy and both of their string of numbers turned from green to blue. Then, a green circle appeared in front of the Copy Token and 6 small cyan spheres representing the levels of the monsters appeared from within each of the lines of binary code. The balls combined and then the green circle enveloped the two monsters, causing them to disappear. Then, the ball went into the circle, causing a new monster to appear from within it.

Process – Delete is a level 6 Asynchro EARTH attribute Machine-Type Effect Monster with 2300 ATK and 1500 DEF. The new monster was nothing like the ones used to make it, and there was no binary code present anywhere on it. Instead it was a large grey cylindrical bin, about the same height as Psycho with a green recycling symbol on it.

When this card is Asynchro Summoned it gains ten Process Counters. You can remove three Process Counters from this card to destroy one card on the field. You can also remove three Process Counters from this card to negate the activation and effect of the effect of an effect monster. Once per turn, during your End Phase, remove one Process Counter from this card (this is not optional). This card is destroyed if there are no Process Counters on it.

"When it is Asynchro Summoned it gains ten Process Counters. I can remove three of them to destroy one card on the field – and I destroy your face down!"

Process – Delete: 10 Process Counters

Yuri clenched his fists, but there wasn't the same fear he experienced when duelling Ned present. He was so enveloped by rage that any fear in him disintegrated before it might have any effect on him. The bin turned on its side, so that the black carven on its inside was facing him. It fired a black ball of energy directly at his face down. The dark iniquity sped across the field and slammed into his card, which he chose not to activate in response. The monster then rotated slightly so that it was pointing directly at Yuri. It was like it knew what was coming next.

Process – Delete: 7 Process Counters

"My monster will attack you!" shouted Psycho.

The bin fired another black ball, this time at Yuri, who revealed a card in his hand – Kurilux, the small white sphere of light with two eyes that was so often an annoyance to him. She appeared on the field and blocked the attack, absorbing the black blob and causing it to disappear. Psycho growled but then he began to smile again. Another black blob appeared from within his monster and it was a direct hit on Kurilux and it appeared to negate her effect on the field.

"I remove three more Process Counters to negate the effect of your pathetic excuse for a monster, and continue the attack!"

The monster exerted another black blob which flew across the field and hit him. He fell backwards onto the floor and sparks started to fly around him. The sparks quickly began to disappear and as they did he clenched his fists again and put on a brave face as he felt intense pain from the attack. It almost looked as if he wanted to scream something, but he managed to keep his mouth shut.

Process – Delete: 4 Process Counters

2300 ATK = -2300

Yuri 4000 - 1700 Psycho: 4000

"I set a card face down, and since it's the end of my turn, I remove a Process Counter from my monster."

Process – Delete: 3 Process Counters

Hand size: Psycho 2, Yuri 4, Set: Psycho 1, Yuri 1

Turn 4.

Yuri got back up on his feet and drew a card. He looked at it briefly and then immediately placed it into his Spell and Trap card zone. A wall of glowing white energy appeared around him, and around that were many hundreds of sparks. He tensed all of the muscles in his limbs and at that moment a huge electrical discharge sent shockwaves in all directions. Scarlett and Teller ran for cover behind the door to the arena, but Psycho wasn't so fortunate. He was hit with a blast of intense energy which knocked him into the air and he came crashing down onto the floor with a loud thump. Teller and Scarlett then walked back into the arena.

Yuri - 1000

Psycho - 2000

Yuri: 1700 - 700 Psycho: 4000 - 2000

"Yes, it's working! The machine didn't lie!" shouted Teller.

**The name is weird. Like real world busses they transport stuff, in their case data.

**Asynchronous communication, is like Synconus (Synchro Summon) except because it is asynchronous it does not require error checking, or in terms of Yu-Gi-Oh, a Tuner monster I guess. So just think of it as Sychro Summon without a Tuner. This is not like an Exceed (XYZ) Summon as any monsters can be used (unless a card specifically states otherwise) and they don't have to be of the same level. I will be boycotting XYZ summons because they were a stupid idea on Konami's part as they have helped to make the game far too fast.


	9. Chapter 9 (DUEL)

_Custom cards are marked with a "*" after their first appearance in a chapter only. Monsters are Attack Mode unless otherwise specified._

Hand size: Psycho 2, Yuri 4

Set: Psycho 1, Yuri 1

Both Teller and Scarlett began to look rather worried at the sight of Psycho motionless on the floor because of the gust of energy. After coming to the conclusion that Psycho was ok they looked towards Yuri, who was now breathing heavily. His opponent's collapse didn't seem to bother him. Unlike with his duel with Ned, he seemed to be blinded by rage.

Teller was about to go over to him, when he suddenly moved his limbs and got up. He stood up perfectly straight and gave Yuri an angry look, which he returned. Yuri, continuing to breathe heavily, clenched his fists. Psycho also clenched his fists, causing Teller to smile.

"Is that the best you've got?" Psycho taunted.

Yuri refused to answer. Instead he proceeded with his next move - the summoning of a monster. From his hand he took a card and slammed it into his monster card zone. Lightning Pup* is a level 2 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1000 ATK and 500 DEF. There was a flash of lightening then a small blue, four legged monster with a short white tail and sparks flying all around its body appeared where the lightning struck. It appeared to move its face and howl, though it emitted no sound.

Hand size: Psycho 2, Yuri 3

"You really think you can beat me with that?" shouted Psycho in an angry tone.

"Lightning Pup effect!" yelled Yuri.

There was another flash of lightning that came down from somewhere within the ceiling. It struck Lightning Pup, causing it to explode and disappear. There was a brief pause then some of the lights in the room began to flicker, and others even went out as more lightning bolts appeared, all around Yuri. Scarlett and Teller made another dive for cover and left the room as a new monster appeared in the place where Lightning Pup was.

Lightning struck four times, once to create the left leg of a new monster, then again for the right leg, then for a long thick tail, and finally for the torso which was connected to two tiny arms and a head. The new monster was far bigger than anything preceding it, being an entirely blue Dinosaur in a shape that closely resembled the famed Tyrannosaurs –Rex. Lightning Rex* is a level 8 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF.

"Lightning Rex Special Summons a Lightning Monster," Yuri declared.

Psycho didn't answer. As Yuri took a monster to Special Summon from his deck he sneered at him. Yuri chose to summon Lightning Shark*. Lightning Shark is a level 4 WATER attribute Thunder-Type Effect Monster with 1850 ATK and 1100 DEF. A long blue and electrified fish-like creature with several pointed teeth sticking from its mouth appeared from within a portal. It boasted a large dorsal fin and a tail that swung violently from side to side.

"Attack!" Yuri said, with a distinct forcefulness in his voice.

Yuri hastily went for the attack, thinking he was about to win, and pointed towards Psycho's monster, forgetting about Psycho's face down card. Lightning Rex appeared to open its gaping mouth and roar, although no sound was heard. Considerably more sparks appeared around its body and it then fired a white beam from its mouth. The gush of light was about to hit Process – Delete when Psycho decided to activate his face down card – a Counter Trap; Binary - Cancel.

Binary - Cancel can only be activated during the Battle Phase when an attack is declared, and only if you control a face-up Binary or Process monster. It Special Summons one Binary - Cancel Token and negates the attack. When this effect resolves one Process Counter is removed from anywhere on your side of the field and one Binary - Cancel Token is Trbitued to end the turn of the turn player.

A Binary - Cancel Token is a level 4 EARTH attribute Machine-Type Token Monster with 900 ATK and 1900 DEF. Next to Process – Delete appeared a sting of green characters of binary code with the combination 10000001. When it appeared Lightning Rex's attack abruptly stopped and the white light was drawn to the new Token.

"This card allows me to summon a Binary - Cancel Token. Then, I remove one Process Counter from the field and tribute it to end your turn," shouted Teller.

Turn 5.

Processor – Single Core: 0 Process Counters

The binary code moved up from the floor and around the back of the grey bin that was Process – Delete, and into Processor – Single Core. It then was drawn into the processor core which appeared to vibrate. Psycho smirked and drew a card which he immediately placed into his monster card zone.

Binary – Paste* is a level 4 EARTH attribute Machine-Type Effect Monster with 1500 ATK and 1800 DEF. A green string of binary code in the combination 00010001 appeared next to Process – Delete. It was summoned in defensive mode.

"Your Dinosaur will be a fossil by the end of the turn, I assure you. I summon Binary – Paste in defence mode and it gains two On Counters," Psycho said as he raised his arm and clenched his fist, "Next, I activate my Overclock* card. This means Processor – Single Core gains an additional Process Counter!"

Hand size: Psycho 1, Yuri 3

The processor core began vibrating again, although it was more apparent now than when the binary code was absorbed by it. A burning aura appeared around the processor, which was soon brought to a stop with the declaration of Psycho's next move.

Processor – Single Core: 2 Process Counters

"I move the Process Counters to Process – Delete and activate its effect to destroy Lightning Rex," he continued.

Processor – Single Core: 0 Process Counters

Process – Delete: 5 Process Counters

A dark blob appeared from within Process – Delete which rapidly made its way across the field in the direction of Lightning Rex. Lightning Rex, seeing the black sphere hurtling towards it, reacted by expelling a white sphere of its own from its mouth. The two spheres clashed in the middle of the field sending tremors all around them, which forced everyone to shield their eyes if they wanted to avoid become disoriented from the bright flashes of light the clash emitted.

Process – Delete: 2 Process Counters

"What's going on?" yelled Psycho, "I demand an explanation!"

"It protects my Lightning monsters with its Special Ability!" stated Yuri.

"You still think you can win don't you? Well you've got another thing coming. I attack Lightning Shark! How do you like the idea of shark fin soup? Personally it's not to my tastes but I can't speak for any of my monsters of course.

"I set a card face down, switch Process – Delete to defensive mode and end my turn."

Turn 6.

Set: Psycho 1, Yuri 1

Process – Delete: 1 Process Counter

The grey bin that was Process - Delete moved from being on its side, to being upright. The green recycling symbol towards the middle of its body became visible again. After it finished moving two people, a man and a woman, burst into the room and ran towards Teller.

"Did you feel that earthquake?" the man asked.

"Nonsense," Teller said, his face becoming enveloped with disdain, "It was this duel. Now get back to whatever you were doing. You have no business here."

"Yes sir," the pair replied simultaneously.

As the pair left the room Yuri drew a card – it was Mirror Force, the card Cecil let him keep. He stared at it for a moment and then proceeded to summon a monster. He slammed the card into his monster card zone of his duel disk and there was another flash of lightning as a new monster appeared. Lightning Hawk* is a level 4 WATER attribute Thunder-Type effect monster with 1600 ATK and 1500 DEF. Lightning Hawk was an entirely blue bird surrounded by sparks, with the exception of its long tail feathers which were white.

Hand size: Psycho 1, Yuri 2

It soared high above the field in a circular motion for a couple of seconds and then dive bombed at Psycho. As it flew towards the floor its body changed from being bird like to more of a javelin shape. On its approach to Psycho it created a vortex around him by flying rapidly around his body, and its body started to slowly disintegrate until there was nothing left. At that point all that was left were a few sparks that gave Psycho a nasty shock and inflicted 1000 points of Direct Damage.

"Argh, you'll pay!" howled Psycho as he fell to the floor.

Psycho - 1000

Yuri: 700 Psycho: 2000 - 1000

"Rex, attack Delete," Yuri shouted, his face red with anger.

He didn't even give Psycho a chance to get back on his feet. However, as Lightning Rex readied for the attack on Process – Delete, he managed to activate his face down card – Negate Attack. A huge red screen appeared in front of Psycho's side of the field, blocking Lightning Rex's attack, and ending the Battle Phase.

"Negate Attack ends the Battle Phase," Psycho said, "It's so much fun watching you squirm. I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's meeting. You were so powerless, as you are now. There's no way you can survive another turn. I've won this."

Yuri set a card face down and looked through the cards in his hand once more. Mirror Force was the only thing that seemed useful, and if he wasn't able to activate it, the duel was as good as over. His victory depended on the execution of this one move. He wasn't the sort of person who believed in the 'heart of the cards', even though he looked towards someone like Yugi Muto, a person who strongly believed in the heart of the cards, as an inspiration; a great duellist and the kind of person he dreamed of one day being.

Set: Psycho 1, Yuri 2

"I end," Yuri said, now trying to hide his anger.

Turn 7.

Hand size: Psycho 2, Yuri 1

Psycho drew a card and smiled. Yuri on the other hand remained unmoving, his face now frozen and lifeless. It was like the duel made him lose all signs of emotion and he was now very determined, having lost the fear of failure installed within him, at least temporarily. His face looked focused yet there was a slight apprehension as he guessed what Psycho's next move might be. Psycho's Binary – Paste changed from being in the combination of 00010001 to 00111001 meaning it just obtained two more On Counters.

Binary – Paste: 4 On Counters

Processor – Single Core: 1 Process Counter

"I don't know how you didn't end up in hospital yesterday," Psycho yelled as he placed a card in his monster card zone, "But I have a reputation to uphold. I summon, Binary – Cut."

Binary – Cut* is a level 3 EARTH attribute Machine-Type Effect Monster with 1650 ATK and 0 DEF. A green string of binary code in the combination of 11000000 appeared on the field next to Process – Delete.

Hand size: Psycho 1, Yuri 1

"I move the Process Counter from the Processer - Single Core to my Binary – Paste and activate its effect. I summon a Binary monster from my deck."

Processor – Single Core: 0 Process Counter

Binary – Paste: 0 On Counters

The code of Binary – Paste went from being 11110000 to 00000000 in an instant. When this happened, a new green string of binary code appeared next to it. It was in the combination 00010001. Binary – Paste is a level 4 EARTH attribute Machine-Type Effect Monster with 1500 ATK and 1800 DEF.

"For my next move," declared Psycho, "I Asynchornize the two Binary – Paste to create Process – Calculate!"

One of the Binary – Paste moved in front of the other Binary – Paste and both of their string of numbers turned from green to blue. Then, a green circle appeared in front of the Copy Token and 8 small cyan spheres representing the levels of the monsters appeared from within each of the lines of binary code. The balls combined and then the green circle enveloped the two monsters, causing them to disappear. Then, the ball went into the circle, causing a new monster to appear from within it.

Process – Calculate* is a level 8 EARTH attribute Machine-Type Asynchro Effect Monster with 2700 ATK and 1700 DEF. A large blue calculator with grey buttons, about the same size as Process – Delete, appeared next to Process – Delete. Its interface was quite basic, having all of the standard buttons and nothing more.

Process – Calculate: 10 Process Counters

"I remove three Process Counters to increase the attack and defence of Process – Calculate by one-thousand points."

Some of the buttons on the interface of Process – Calculate became indented briefly. First the "+" button, then the "1" and finally the "0" was pressed a total of three times. The number one-thousand then appeared on its screen and the calculator suddenly increased in size.

Process - Calculate: 7 Process Counters

Process – Calculate:

2700 ATK + 1000 = 3700 ATK, 1700 DEF + 1000 = 2700 DEF

"I switch Process – Delete to offensive mode and then Process – Calculate will attack Lightning Rex. So much for the test results; you're pathetic!"

As Process – Calculate readied for the attack, Yuri activated his face down card – Mirror Force! Process – Calculate fired a bright blue, rectangular, beam from within its screen. It was about to hit Yuri's monster when a clear hemisphere appeared all around Yuri's side of the field. It absorbed all of the attack and then redirected it, back at Psycho's monsters. The beam split into three equal segments, and equal parts of it went towards each of Psycho's monsters. When the beam hit them, they each exploded into many tiny pieces which quickly disappeared.

"That's impossible," shouted Psycho, his voice suddenly losing its previous sense of arrogance and becoming enveloped in fear, "I was about to win. Since when does a runt like you have such a powerful trap? Where did you get that card? You stole it didn't you!"

"No! My friend gave it to me..."

"You have friends?"

"Fuchsia and Scarlett are my friends, I think. Fuchsia..." said Yuri.

Suddenly he appeared to snap out of his trancelike** state. His vile expression all of a sudden turned into one that seemed somewhat sad, as he was reminded about tomorrow's meeting at the café. He didn't calm down completely but it was enough for him to regain control over his powers.

"I don't have anything nice to wear," he mumbled.

"Ha - two friends! Is that all? I happen to be one of the more influential people in the Arcadia Movement. I set a card and end my turn."

Turn 8.

"No! I have three. Cecil gave me his card."

Hand size: Psycho 1, Yuri 2

Yuri drew Lightning Falcon – just the card he needed if he was going to get past Psycho's face down card. He placed the monster into his monster card zone and a flash of lightning appeared. Then, a bird appeared high above the field, and as before, it was entirely blue, and surrounded by white sparks. It dive bombed for Psycho's face down card, making short work of it, as he apparently couldn't activate it in response.

"No! I haven't lost in nearly three weeks. I'll get you for this! Mark my words!"

"Go, Lightning Rex."

Psycho - 2500

1000 – 2500 = 0

Yuri: 700 Psycho: 1000 - 0

Lightning Rex opened its gaping mouth and fired a bright white beam from within it. The continuous beam went straight for Psycho and the force of it caused him to fall backwards onto the floor. As he got up, all of the cards on the field disappeared, and Yuri walked away from his position on the duel arena.

"Well done Yuri," said Teller as he approached him, "I think you've earned this rare card."

"For me?" he replied, looking up at Teller.

"Yes. It's called 'Turning the Tables'. It's a very powerful Trap card, perhaps more powerful than even your Mirror Force is. It switches control of all cards on the field."

"Wow..."

"Yuri, I'd like you to come with me. We need to have another chat."

"What?"

"A heart to heart, you know, in private. I have some things I'd like to discuss with you. Follow me."

"Really? Umm, ok."

"Scarlett, you may go now. I have some things I urgently need to discuss with Yuri."

Yuri slipped the card into his deck and unstrapped his duel disk from his arm. He put it back into his backpack and then followed Teller, who was already making his way to the door. He led him to one of the doors in the adjoining corridor, which he opened, and Yuri reluctantly entered. Teller turned on the light and shut the door behind him. The room wasn't very big, being a simple squared shape, almost like a cubical as there wasn't very much space inside. Inside the room was a table, along with three chairs, and that was it.

"I have a few questions I'd like to ask you. Something we find here at the Arcadia Movement is that a lot of our members are neglected by their parents. Their parents either can't accept that a person is special, or in the case of Fuchsia, are always away on business trips so since she doesn't have many friends she has to look to her Duel Monsters for solace."

Teller slammed his fist into the table and gave Yuri a stern look. Yuri looked at him with a puzzled expression, a mixture of shock and fear. A red aura appeared around his clenched fist which disappeared as soon as he began to talk again.

"Her parents are developing a way to supress a duellist's psychic powers – a stupid idea if you ask me! Why should people hide who they really are? Anybody physically harmed by one of us most likely deserved it! We should embrace our powers, especially somebody as powerful as you are, so tell me Yuri, why do you try and hide?"

"I don't know," he said as he looked towards the floor.

"There must be a reason. I think you're scared of them - but why? Why are you so scared of your powers? They are nothing to be afraid of. They are a gift which can be put to good use. Scarlett says you always mention your dad but never your mum, why is this?"

"Umm, m-my mum, oh umm, she didn't like the game of Duel Monsters. My dad gave me, my umm, first cards but she found out and she took them away..."

"I see, and when did you find out about your powers?"

"I don't know, I really don't know. It's hard for me to remember. I'm not very good at anything."

"No, that's not true! Even Psycho was quietly impressed with your duelling skills. He just doesn't like to show it that's all. I believe the cards in the deck form a special bond with a psychic duellist. It's as if they're trying to protect him or her, and that bond manifests itself in the form of real damage. How did you find the cards after your mum took them away?"

"One day I found a card in my room and when my mum saw it she wanted to take it away. I was really sad. I didn't want her to take it, I really didn't. When she came near there was yellow light everywhere and my mum fell down and I never saw her again. My dad says she will come back one day but I don't know. Some people came to take her away and my dad doesn't like to talk about what happened."

"Which card was it?"

Yuri opened up his backpack and took out a Magic card from his deck. He showed it to Teller who grabbed hold of it. He brought it close to his face and read the text on it.

"So Violent Discharge is the card?" said Teller, handing the card back to Yuri.

"I think so."

"I see."

"Can I go now, I need to go to, umm - I need to buy some things."

"Alright, but I have one more question. Did you hear the news yesterday? They've developed a way to clone people..."

"What?"

"Make a copy of a person, someone like you or Sayer. Without him we wouldn't be here today."

"But I heard Sayer was bad."

"Who's been feeding you these blatant lies?"

"Ned said his..."

"So you believe this Ned more than me?"

"No but..."

"Sayer was a great man. He founded the Arcadia Movement. He was an inspiration not just to me, but everyone here. If you help I'll give you more rare cards. So will you help us?"

"Umm, ok, but won't I get into trouble?"

"Let's just say, I know some things about some people in the police. If they know what's good for them they won't investigate properly. I want you back here on Saturday. I have one more test I need to do in order to decide your place within the Arcadia Movement."

**Not a typo; trancelike is a real word. I was surprised as you probably are (Or maybe you aren't?).


	10. Chapter 10

When Yuri left the Arcadia Building he didn't go straight home as he originally planned. Instead he went to browse some of the shops that were near his home. He looked in a couple of clothes shops and eventually decided to buy a new pair of trousers – pair of black jeans - and a short sleeved T-Shirt which was a dark blue colour. They weren't too expensive, but they were enough to empty his wallet of most of its cash.

When he got home his dad still wasn't back, which was very good for him as he wasn't necessarily going to find out that he was out for most of the afternoon. However, when he returned home he immediately saw Yuri's new clothes on his bed. He gave him a strange look but quickly remembered about Yuri's outing the next day, which made him blush.

Yuri was never a person to care about his appearance yet the fact that he was going to be spending some time alone with a girl seemed to trigger something in his brain. It was like Fuchsia flicked a switch somewhere in his consciousness, and suddenly - suddenly, being presentable was important to him. Certainly she was the reason he went on his little excursion, so maybe Scarlett was right, maybe he did love her?

Or maybe she was only being nice because she wanted something out of him? That crossed his mind too, but ultimately he tossed this thought aside and concentrated on the niceties of tomorrow's encounter. It seemed too good to be true, a short meek boy, going on what others, not him, might rightly or wrongly perceive as a date with a pretty girl. As far as he was concerned, it was just going to be a friendly chat, a chance to be sociable for a change, but even if it was "just a chat" rather than a date the thought of it still made him tremble.

He locked himself in his room for most of the evening and kept thinking about the meeting. Lots of questions swirled around in his mind, but the thought that kept coming back to him more than any other was the idea that he somehow might not be good enough. She never suggested anything of the sort, but the fear of it lingered all the way through the night, and even in the morning, as the sight of his new clothes at the end of his bed served as a reminder of his impending encounter. Breakfast was eaten slower than usual, and he was nearly late for school.

At school he was greeted by Scarlett as usual, though she never mentioned Fuchsia once, although he did mention he was going to the café, so wasn't going to join her at the Arcadia Building. And like before, everyone tried their best to avoid them, and eventually it was lunchtime, giving Yuri an opportunity to tell Cecil about how Mirror Force helped him to win the duel against Psycho. Cecil was impressed by Yuri's actions and hoped that they might duel one day and decided to exchange mobile phone numbers.

Cecil then spent the rest of the lunch break talking about his deck and how all of the cards in it worked together in perfect unison. A deck was like a recipe, he said. And all of the chosen ingredients, the cards in other words, needed to come together seamlessly, if the deck was going to be perfect.

After school, Scarlett didn't drag him into the Arcadia Building like she did the previous days, and he breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the building alone. However, that problem was immediately replaced by another. He rushed back home to get changed into his new clothes. He slipped them on as quickly as possible, and he was so quick in fact, that he forgot to take the price tags off of them. Even when he looked in the mirror in the bathroom briefly to flatten his hair, he failed to notice them so head he headed to the café with two price tags on his clothes.

The café was an average sort of café, a simple single storey building in a city full of high rises. It was situated on a little side street, with one of the local parks situated at its end, a fairly large open space where many amilies, children and young couples met. He stood by the lamppost outside of the café and waited patiently for her to arrive. Several minutes passed, and he started to become scared that she might not turn up. His heart began to beat faster and faster, and when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he lurched forward.

"Relax Yuri, it's only me," said a female voice.

He turned around, and as if by magic, there she was. His jaw dropped. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a bright pink tank top and a plain black skirt that left most of her thighs visible. Her lips were a subtle shade of red, not too bright, but just enough to make the lipstick standout, and her eye lashes seemed slightly longer than the previous time they met.

All he did was put on his new clothes, but she appeared to have gone through a metamorphosis. Not that she was ugly before, but like a typical larva she transformed into something much more majestic - now a mighty predator who was out hunting. And she was on a hunt for him it seemed, having appeared to have made the first move by presenting herself so eloquently - and it looked as if her hunting tactics were working as she left him entranced. He was trapped by her charm, not that he wanted to try and escape though. He just stood there motionless and quietly studying her.

"You brought that t-shirt especially for today, didn't you? It's very nice," Fuchsia said as she put her mobile phone into the brown handbag that hung from her shoulder.

"How do you know?" he replied, looking towards the ground.

"It still has the label, silly."

"I didn't."

"You're lying to me again, aren't you? I think you did. Here, let me help you."

She rolled her eyes and he began to blush. As she leaned closer to him he began looking towards the ground. He knew he was found out and it was no use trying to resist her. Along with the obvious embarrasment, there was a tinge of frustraition, in other words, the child-like cuteness she seemed to enjoy so much.

She placed her hands on his shoulders she used them guided his body so that his back was facing her, and then bent down to bite the label off - only then noticing his trousers still boasted their label too. She pulled that label off too, albeit more descretely so as not to make a scene, and then gently guided his body back round again, seeing as he didn't move. She giggled, making him feel even more awkward.

"Don't worry about it. You look wonderful," she said as she brushed something off of one of his shoulders.

"Really?" he replied coyly.

"Of course you do! You shouldn't doubt yourself so much. The labels show you made an effort. How about we head inside now?"

"Ok."

The café wasn't too busy, but at the same time it wasn't very quiet inside either. As they got in line behind the till Yuri noticed a boy from school sat down in a corner; one of Ned's friends who was present when they duelled. Their eyes locked and it looked as if he was beginning to feel somewhat jealous of Yuri. Yuri forced himself to turn away from him and focused on the matter at hand, hoping to avoid any sort of confrontation.

There were a multitude of drinks and other items to choose from. The display boards stretched from one end of the kitchen right the way to the other, and navigating all of them in only a few short seconds was going to be a hard task, especially for an indesisive person like him. He stared at them, not even noticing that the line was moving forward.

"Yuri," breathed Fuchsia, waving her perfumed and perfectly manicured hand in front of his face, "It's our turn next. So, what are you having?"

"Oh, umm, I, umm, don't know," he replied as he removed his backpack.

"I think I'll get some orange juice."

"I will pay."

He removed his wallet from his backpack and peered inside. He looked closely in each section, even putting the wallet right up to face, desperately hoping to find a crevice of untapped treasure, but he quickly realized that the last of his notes were spent on the buying the new clothes. All that was left were a few coins. He clenched his fists and squeezed his wallet as tightly as possible.

"No, no, I don't have enough! Fuchsia will hate me!" he thought out loud, in a distinctly angry tone, as he stamped his foot.

"It's alright, we can share something," she said, trying to sound diplomatic.

He took another look in his wallet. Maybe there was just enough for them both to have a drink. He counted all of the coins and then looked back up at the prices. To his surprise, there was just enough for them both to get what they wanted. He relaxed his body, breathing a sigh a relief in the process.

"I think I have enough," he said, suddenly returning to his typically quiet voice.

"Well, let the woman know what you want, it's our turn."

"Such a cute couple," the woman at the counter said, causing Yuri to blush again, "What would you like?"

"Orange juice and cola," he spewed out, clearly wanting to get the ordering over and done with as fast as possible.

"Thanks. My assistant will be round to bring you your drinks in just a second."

As he handed the woman the money, he looked towards Ned's friend again. As he was playing with this mobile phone he didn't notice Yuri sneering at him. Noticing he was distracted, Fuchsia took hold of his hand and pulled him away from the counter. He grip was firm yet this occasion felt different from the times Scarlett escorted him.

Unlike with Scarlett the scenario like wasn't that of a toy and its owner, instead resembleing a mother with her child. Unlike a teddy bear, a child was something someone rarely discarded lightly, and was also something with more rights, and perhaps most importantly, was given a greater say in proceedings. A teddy bear just followed its owner's every last whim and was powerless to stop them. A child on the other hand, whilst still being led, was able to say when it didn't want to do something, and when it wanted to stop doing something.

Fuchsia chose to sit down at a table with a couch next to a window in a corner of the café. She patted the empty area of cushion beside herself and smiled at him. He wasn't sure how to react so he decided to remain standing beside the table. Just as he was about to sit on the couch opposite her, she finally decided to speak again.

"There's still room for a little one beside me," she said with a wink.

"I'm not that little!" he protested, stamping his foot at the same time for emphasis.

"You're shorter than me."

"I guess so."

"You guess, huh? Well it's a fact. Now sit. The lady is bringing us our drinks."

He eventually decided to sit down next to her on the couch. There was enough room, but only just, which made it feel quite intimate. When the woman brought their drinks over she smiled at them, and without saying a word headed straight back to the kitchen to serve the next customer. Yuri was about to put the straw into his mouth when he felt her lips briefly brush against his cheek, leaving some of their flowery scent on him, which caused him to freeze instantly.

"It was very sweet of you to pay for my drink," she said.

"What was that?" he said, as he slowly ran his fingers down his cheek.

"You mean you don't know what a kiss is either?"

"I don't know."

"It means I like you. I don't give kisses to just anyone, only to people I like."

"Who me?"

"Yes..."

"Can, I, umm, I try one?"

"What, a kiss?"

"Yes, b-because, I like you! Does that mean I can?"

"Of course. It's very easy. All you have to do is put your mouth on my cheek and leave it there for a second. I'll move a bit closer so you can try."

Suddenly Kurilux appeared again. She squealed and floated between the two. Fuchsia was leaning towards Yuri, who was about to give her a kiss when Kurilix zoomed past him. She then spun around and floated through the gap that separated their heads again.

"Hi again," said Fuchsia in a cheery voice.

"Why now? Fuchsia was showing me what a kiss is!"

"Look, you've made him mad again."

"I'm not mad."

"Don't worry, we have the whole afternoon to practice your kissing skills. Oh, and Yuri, Kurilux, this is Kurirose – he's very friendly. I see you've finally decided to show up."

Kurirose was a small brown ball, with two big white eyes and a blossoming red rose for a tail. He moved closer to Yuri to inspect Kurilux who was now hiding behind him. He turned and moved around his head but Kurilux fled for the window so that she was now behind Fuchsia. Fuchsia giggled as Kurilux rushed around, trying desperately to avoid Kurirose. Yuri on the other hand was trying his best to ignore the commotion and was with his head down having a sip of his drink.

"I think she's gone shy, don't you? Kurirose doesn't bite, he's really very nice, I promise," she continued.

"Uh, ok..." said Yuri.

"There's nothing to be scared of Yuri."

"I'm not scared!"

"You're the silliest person I've ever met! You're also a very bad liar."

Some the people in the café began staring at them, obviously wondering what all the fuss was about, seeing as they were unable to see the cornered Kurilux trying to fend of Kurirose. However, what caught Yuri's attention was Ned's friend getting up from his seat. He gave Yuri an angry look which made him become rather freighted. Yuri crossed his arms and leaned against Fuchsia, who was only now having the first sips of her drink. She then looked at the boy too, as it didn't take long for her to notice Yuri's unease.

"You know him don't you?" she said.

"He's from school," he replied.

"I sometimes get called names, but I just ignore people like that. Akiza Izinski was able to become really successful, so what's stopping me? They don't understand that I can be a really nice person. You gave me a chance and found out I'm really nice. I bet he's really jealous of you. I bet he doesn't have anyone as cool as me to hang out with, huh Yuri."

"Maybe. You're really pretty."

"Just for that you get another kiss."

She wrapped her arms around his body and bent over to kiss him on the cheek. When her lips came into contact with his body he froze instantly again. It was like her lips contained some kind of paralyzing poison, a kind of poison only the most successful hunters were able to put to good use, and it was as if the venom was perfectly formulated to immobilize him. Seeing him freeze made her giggle, and she waved her arm in front of his face in the hope of getting a reaction, but there was no response. He sat there silently as she finished her drink, and when she did she took to prodding him.

"Come on Yuri, don't you want to want to finish our lesson on kissing?" she inquired.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "It's just, well, umm, I don't know."

"That's alright. So, do you want to go for a walk in the park now?"

"Ok."

Once Yuri finished his drink they headed into the park and Kurilux and Kurirose disappeared. The sun was still shining brightly, but was beginning to disappear behind some buildings in the distance. Eventually they found a shady spot under a big tree and sat there. They talked about various different things, and of course Yuri practised his kissing on her. He tapped her on the cheek once but then decided he was going to leave the kissing to her, claiming that she was much better at it than he was. The conversation was flowing nicely until Yuri spotted Ned in the distance, at which point he abruptly stopped talking...


End file.
